|
PARIS (AP) - Merger-related costs weighed on Sanofi-Aventis SA's fourth-quarter profit, the French drugmaker said Friday, but underlying earnings rose sharply, helped by efficiency gains.
Sanofi-Aventis also said it still hopes to start marketing its weight-loss drug Rimonabant, also known under the Acomplia brand name, in the United States in the second half of 2006.
Net profit fell to 456 million euros ($545 million) in the October-December period, after the deduction of 988 million ($1.18 billion) in charges arising from the ongoing implementation of the 2004 merger between Sanofi-Synthelabo and Aventis.
|