Sanofi CEO: Cap drug prices

The new Sanofi CEO has some radical idea. In his first interview since taking the helm at Sanofi-Aventis, CEO Gérard Le Fur (photo) told the Financial Times that drug makers ought to cut prices and rely on volume for profits. Skyrocketing costs for new drugs "cannot continue," he said. He himself expects to focus on emerging markets for growth--and those markets can't support the kind of prices paid in more developed nations.

The free-ranging interview also touched on possible cost-cutting at Sanofi, and on potential acquisitions, perhaps in Japan. He plans to look at biotech acquisitions and at licensing deals, too, boosting the latter to 25 to 30 percent of the company's pipeline. And he predicts that Sanofi's vaccine sales will double to 20 percent of group revenue from 10 percent today.

- read the interview from the Financial Times

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