Walgreens Take Care Health Systems and Sanofi US Open On-site Medical Center and Pharmacy

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Take Care Health Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG), and Sanofi US today announced the opening of a full-service medical center and on-site pharmacy at Sanofi's US headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

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"As a global health care company that is dedicated to solving health challenges, it is essential for us to know that we are doing everything we can to help our own employees and their dependents stay well," said Sanofi's Judy O'Hagan, Vice President US Human Resources.  "By providing access to the broad range of health care services that will be made available through this health center and pharmacy combination, we will offer a cost-conscious, convenient approach to healthcare for our employees."

Sanofi US is a leading diversified healthcare company and is committed to providing a healthy work environment for its employees, particularly given the time spent in the workplace. In addition to the on-site clinic and pharmacy in Bridgewater, the company offers a variety of health and wellness services at sites across the United States. Last week, Sanofi began distributing vouchers to all U.S. employees and dependents for a flu shot, redeemable at any Walgreens throughout the country.

The Sanofi health center and pharmacy is operated by Walgreens Take Care Health Systems and will serve 2,600 employees in the Bridgewater area. Services include primary care, urgent care, laboratory services, preventive care, wellness, health screenings, patient education and disease management. In addition, the onsite full-service pharmacy will provide medication counseling, prescription transfers, automatic refills, and over-the counter items. The clinic and pharmacy will help employees achieve and maintain improved health outcomes by allowing them to manage their health care needs during the work day. Sanofi will evaluate these outcomes to guide future decisions on employee wellness offerings.

"Sanofi is a true innovator that continues to demonstrate a commitment to their employees by offering a robust array of health services at the worksite," said Peter Hotz, Walgreens group vice president. "This is an example of a leading company working with Walgreens to deliver and develop innovative health services and worksite offerings that can drive improved patient outcomes, overall savings, and happier and more productive employees."

Recent research has demonstrated that the face-to-face counseling and convenient access provided by the combination of an on-site pharmacy and full service health center can drive a nearly 10 percent increase in medication adherence (9.72%).  Non-adherence is a significant health issue; up to 11% of hospital admissions can be attributed to non-adherence of medication therapy and it currently costs an estimated $100 billion a year to the national healthcare system.

About Walgreens

Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 7,760 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services include retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

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, also referred to as Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC. For more information on Sanofi US, please visit http://www.sanofi.us or call 1-800-981-2491.

Media Contacts:

Jack Cox, Sanofi US
(908) 981-5280

Gabe Weissman, Walgreens
(484) 351-3040

Investor Relations:

George Grofik, Sanofi US
(908) 981 6031

Walgreens Forward-Looking Statements

Statements regarding Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, each of which is incorporated herein by reference, and in other documents that Walgreens files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the extent required by law, Walgreens undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the distribution of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

Sanofi 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 labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such products candidates, the absence of guarantee that the products 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 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, 2010. 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