Sanofi lifts profit forecast as second quarter beats expectations

By Natalie Huet PARIS (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday as it posted stronger than expected quarterly earnings, driven by its rare disease and diabetes businesses and higher sales in emerging markets. Shares in Sanofi, which have underperformed the rest of the European pharmaceutical industry after a string of disappointing results last year, rose as much as 4 percent. Sanofi has sought in recent years to shake off the impact of patent losses on big-selling drugs, such as blood thinners Plavix and Lovenox, by betting on diabetes, rare diseases and over-the-counter treatments. One of these, cholesterol drug alirocumab, could reach the U.S market in the second half of next year, at the same time or ahead of U.S. rival Amgen, Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher told reporters on a conference call.



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