Sanofi to Sell Drug to Pfizer

Seeking antitrust clearance for its proposed acquisition of Aventis, Sanofi-Synthélabo has agreed to sell the Aventis drug Campto (irinotecan) to Pfizer for $620 million. Campto, which had sales last year of almost $300 million, was launched in 1995 as a treatment for advanced colorectal cancer. Pfizer already markets the drug in the U.S. and will take over clinical studies of its use in several new indications, including gastric and lung cancers. Sanofi's agreement to sell the drug was one of several concessions it made to win the European Commission's approval of the Aventis purchase on April 26. Another approval-related deal is the proposed sale of two heparin drugs to GlaxoSmithKline for some $550 million. Although Sanofi's pact with the EC was reached in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. agency has yet to approve the Aventis purchase. On May 5, Sanofi disclosed that FTC wants additional information about the purchase, and two weeks ago the company postponed the closing date of the deal to July 30 in order to accommodate the FTC request.