French drugmaker Sanofi stepped up its overhaul on Friday, putting its European generic drugs business up for sale and saying that a planned 3.5 billion euro ($3.8 billion) share buyback would not suppress its appetite for deals.
Sanofi’s announcement came as it posted better than expected earnings and lifted its profit guidance for the year on strong growth at its biotech arm Genzyme and an early start to the U.S. flu vaccine season.
Third-quarter net income adjusted for special items rose 9.7 percent to 2.3 billion euros, against analyst expectations of about 2 billion euros.
