Sanofi-Aventis shares rise as exec changes
11 Sep 2008
Shares in Sanofi-Aventis have risen over claims the chief executive Gerard le Fur is to be replaced by GlaxoSmithKline boss Chris Viehbacher.
According to the drugs giant, Mr Viehbacher will take over the role in December, while his predecessor will remain with the firm as a scientific adviser.
Mr Le Fur worked as the head of the French firm for just two years.
The Sanofi-Aventis board said the move resulted from corporate objectives, adding it aims to "entrust the realisation of this strategy to a person able to implement it in the long term".
Sanofi-Aventis recently reported second-quarter net sales of 6,689 million euros (£5,304 million), growth of more than five per cent comparatively to the same quarter in the previous year.
Of particular mention was the company's consolidated net sales for human vaccines, which rose by 17.1 per cent, reaching 657 million euros.
It attributed a rise in adult booster vaccine sales to the strong performance of Adacel – an adult and adolescent tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis booster.
