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Paris, France - October 14, 2008
Sanofi-aventis enters into collaboration with TB Alliance to fight Tuberculosis
Goal is to accelerate development of drugs against tuberculosis
Sanofi-aventis and the Global Alliance for TB Drug
Development (“TB Alliance”) announced today that they have entered into a collaboration
agreement to accelerate the discovery, development and clinical use of drugs against tuberculosis.
The TB Alliance is a not-for-profit, product development partnership, whose goal is the development
of new tuberculosis drugs.
The announcement was made at the 39th World Conference on Lung Health, organized by the
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Paris, France.
This collaboration agreement with the TB Alliance has been created to address the significant need
to develop new tuberculosis drugs that will shorten treatment and be effective against
drug-susceptible and drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis.
Every year, more than 1.5 million people worldwide die from tuberculosis. Today's tuberculosis
drugs are more than 40 years old and must be taken for six to nine months for drug-sensitive
disease and up to 24 months for drug-resistant disease. Long, demanding treatment schedules
prove too much for many patients and the resulting erratic or inconsistent treatment can result in
drug resistance, treatment failure or death.
Sanofi-aventis, which discovered rifampicin in the early 1960s, markets several anti-tuberculosis
drugs. With the Impact TB initiative, sanofi-aventis provides quality drugs at an affordable price and
is also actively researching new therapeutic approaches for tuberculosis. In one of the most
advanced approaches, a clinical program is planned to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new
tuberculosis regimens that include rifapentine, an antibiotic drug currently used in the United States.
In animal trials, certain rifapentine-containing regimens have shown considerable potential for
shortening tuberculosis treatment.
TB Alliance, working with its public and private partners worldwide, is leading the development of
the most comprehensive portfolio of tuberculosis drug candidates. It has 12 compounds in its
pipeline including two tuberculosis drug candidates in advanced stages.
Under the agreement, the two organizations will share information on their respective projects and
exchange insights on developments in tuberculosis drug research. Additionally, they will consult
with each other on relevant regulatory, access, and clinical trial capacity strategies related to
developing countries. These activities may open new avenues of possible common development in
the future.
“This collaboration with sanofi-aventis underscores the commitment of the TB Alliance to partner
with leaders in science and business to achieve our goal of making faster, better and affordable
tuberculosis drug regimens available as soon as possible,” declared Dr. Jerome Premmereur,
President and CEO of the TB Alliance.
“Thanks to the TB Alliance’s expertise in drug development, a partnership will allow both of us to
make new drugs available faster,” declared Dr. Robert Sebbag, Vice President, Access to
Medicines, at sanofi-aventis. “Impact TB, the tuberculosis program within sanofi-aventis’ Access to
Medicines division, aims to provide new drugs at a price that is affordable for all patients, and this is
a vision we share with the TB Alliance”, he added.
“Research and development at sanofi-aventis is firmly committed to the discovery of new medicines
to combat tuberculosis,” said Jean-Marc Herbert, Senior Vice President, Discovery Research
at sanofi-aventis. “We are therefore delighted to have closer ties with the TB Alliance, which is
recognised as a major driver in the discovery of new compounds in this field.”
About the TB Alliance
The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) is a not-for-profit, product development
partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new TB drugs that will shorten
treatment, be effective against susceptible and resistant strains, be compatible with antiretroviral
therapies for those HIV-TB patients currently on such therapies and improve treatment of latent
infection.
Working with public and private partners worldwide, the TB Alliance is leading the development of
the most comprehensive portfolio of TB drug candidates in history and is committed to ensuring that
approved new regimens are affordable, adopted and available to those who need them. The TB
Alliance operates with funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller
Foundation, Irish Aid, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), the United Kingdom
Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID).
For more information on TB drug development and the TB Alliance, please
visit www.tballiance.org.
About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes
therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT:
SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include product
development, product potential projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans,
objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements
regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects”, “anticipates”,
“believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and similar expressions. Although sanofi-aventis’ management believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking
information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and
generally beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and
uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and
analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMEA, regarding whether
and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well
as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such
products candidates, the absence of guarantee that the products candidates if approved will be commercially successful,
the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives as well as those discussed or identified in the
public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and
“Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in sanofi-aventis’ annual report on Form 20-F for the year
ended December 31, 2007. Other than as required by applicable law, sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
