Sanofi US Reaches Settlement Agreement on Hyalgan

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanofi US announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, the United States Department of Justice and multiple states to resolve all claims arising out of an investigation into sampling of Sanofi's former viscosupplement product, Hyalgan.

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As part of the settlement, Sanofi US will pay $109 Million to the settling parties and expects to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.  There are no criminal charges against the Company in connection with this matter.

Before the government initiated the investigation that led to this settlement, Sanofi identified concerns with Hyalgan sampling through the operation of its compliance program and immediately took strong, proactive and effective steps to address these issues and voluntarily stopped sampling Hyalgan in 2009. This matter has been resolved within existing financial reserves.

Sanofi cooperated fully with the U.S. Government's review of this matter and is pleased to have reached a resolution.  Sanofi is committed to conducting business with the highest standards of integrity and takes very seriously its obligation to do so.  

About Sanofi
Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients' needs. Sanofi has core strengths in the field of healthcare with seven growth platforms: diabetes solutions, human vaccines, innovative drugs, rare diseases, consumer healthcare, emerging markets and animal health. Sanofi is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

Sanofi is the holding company of a consolidated group of subsidiaries and operates in the United States as Sanofi US. For more information on Sanofi US, please visit http://www.sanofi.us or call
1-800-981-2491.

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 projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, 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's 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, 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 EMA, 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 product candidates, the absence of guarantee that the product candidates if approved will be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, the Group's ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, the impact of cost containment policies and subsequent changes thereto, the average number of shares outstanding as well as those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in Sanofi's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2011. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

SOURCE Sanofi