Warner Chilcott Announces Amendment to Actonel Collaboration Agreement with sanofi-aventis

ARDEE, Ireland, April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq: WCRX) and sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN andNYSE: SNY) announced today an amendment to the Actonel® global collaboration agreement with respect to the parties' arrangement in the United States and Puerto Rico.  Under the terms of the amendment, Warner Chilcott will take full operational control over the promotion, marketing and R&D decisions for Actonel in the United States and Puerto Rico, and will assume responsibility for all associated costs relating to those activities.  Prior to the amendment, Warner Chilcott shared such costs with sanofi-aventis in these territories.  In return, sanofi-aventis will receive, as part of the global collaboration payments between the parties, collaboration payments from Warner Chilcott based on an agreed upon percentage of U.S. and PR net sales for the remainder of the term of the collaboration agreement, which expires at the end of 2014.  As part of the amendment, a number of sales representatives currently promoting Actonel for sanofi-aventis in the United States are expected to join the Warner Chilcott sales force.

"The amendment to the collaboration agreement will enable Warner Chilcott to assume full control over the promotion and marketing of the Actonel brand in the United States," stated Roger Boissonneault, President and Chief Executive Officer of Warner Chilcott.  "This will allow us improved flexibility to adjust our promotional plans in the U.S. as we prepare for the potential launch of the next generation Actonel product."

Under current assumptions, the amendment to the collaboration agreement is expected to be earnings neutral for Warner Chilcott in 2010 as the additional costs that Warner Chilcott will assume under the amended agreement are expected to be offset by the decrease in anticipated annual collaboration payments to sanofi-aventis.  

All other aspects of the global collaboration agreement remain in effect.  

The Company

Warner Chilcott is a leading specialty pharmaceutical company currently focused on the gastroenterology, women's healthcare, dermatology and urology segments of the North American and Western European pharmaceuticals markets. The Company is a fully integrated company with internal resources dedicated to the development, manufacturing and promotion of its products. WCRX-G.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements concerning our operations, our economic performance and financial condition, and our business plans and growth strategy and product development efforts. These statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The words "may," "might," "will," "should," "estimate," "project," "plan," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "outlook," "believe" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. These forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions by our management that, although we believe to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The following represent some, but not necessarily all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from historical results or those anticipated or predicted by our forward-looking statements: our substantial indebtedness; competitive factors in the industry in which we operate (including the approval and introduction of generic or branded products that compete with our products); our ability to protect our intellectual property; a delay in qualifying our manufacturing facilities that produce our products or production or regulatory problems with either third party manufacturers upon whom we may rely for some of our products or our own manufacturing facilities; pricing pressures from reimbursement policies of private managed care organizations and other third party payors, government sponsored health systems, the continued consolidation of the distribution network through which we sell our products, including wholesale drug distributors and the growth of large retail drug store chains; the loss of key senior management or scientific staff; adverse outcomes in our outstanding litigation or an increase in the number of litigation matters to which we are subject; government regulation affecting the development, manufacture, marketing and sale of pharmaceutical products, including our ability and the ability of companies with whom we do business to obtain necessary regulatory approvals; our ability to manage the growth of our business by successfully identifying, developing, acquiring or licensing new products at favorable prices and marketing such new products; our ability to obtain regulatory approval and customer acceptance of new products, and continued customer acceptance of our existing products; changes in tax laws or interpretations that could increase our consolidated tax liabilities; our ability to realize the anticipated opportunities from the PGP Acquisition; the other risks identified in our periodic filings including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, and from time-to-time in our other investor communications.

We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in our forward-looking statements may not occur. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Warner Chilcott plc

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