Sales increased more than 10% at Sanofi in the third quarter to €8.7 billion, despite the loss of €471 million due to generic competition compared to the same period a year ago.

Total sales grew 10.1% along with an 11% increase in growth platforms after strong performances in its diabetes, vaccines and consumer health divisions.

Christopher A. Viehbacher, Sanofi CEO, says the return to growth in sales and earnings is an “important milestone as the company progressively puts the patent cliff behind it”.

Growth platforms and Genzyme accounted for 68.5% of total sales after the recently acquired business recorded sales up 6.9% to €768 million.

Pharmaceutical net sales were up a tenth to €6.9 billion and helped year-to-date net sales rise 5.5% to €20 billion, despite generic competition to Lovenox, Ambien CR and Taxotere in the US and Plavix (pictured) and Taxotere in the EU plus the impact of US healthcare reform and EU austerity measures.

Its diabetes division was driven by a strong US and Emerging Markets performance which resulted in a 12.4% increase in sales after Lantus recorded growth of 14.6% and 23.4%, in respective markets. Growth in Sanofi’s vaccine division also increased 16.7% after a solid demand for seasonal flu medication in the US.

The Sanofi Group now expects 2011 business net income to be between 2%-5% lower than last year’s total. “We continue to make strong progress in R&D with the submission of five new products and also in the tight control of our costs,” said Mr Viehbacher.

It was reported this week that Sanofi is set to overtake Pfizer as the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company by 2016.

Submissions have been recently filed for Lyxumia (lixisenatide) in the EU, Aubagio (teriflunomide) and Zaltrap (aflibercept) in the US; Visamerin/Mulsevo (semuloparin) in the US and EU; plus Kynamro (mipomersen) in the EU.

The company released its Q3 performance on the day it announced it was cutting jobs in its US R&D and sales divisions.

Profits at Eli Lilly fell 5% in the third quarter of 2011 to $1.24 billion despite revenue increasing nearly 10% to $6.15bn.

Strong sales performances by Cymbalta, Humalog, Forteo, Strattera, Cialis (pictured) and Alimta boosted revenue, although sales of Zyprexa and Gemzar were down after they faced generic competition for the first time.

John Lechleiter, CEO, Lilly, says that the company is “well-prepared” to meet the “challenges before us” as it prepares to face the loss of patent exclusivity on the two brands.

Zyprexa’s sales generated $1.18bn during the quarter, a decrease of 3% compared to the same time last year, after revenue dropped in the US by $563.2 million. It will lose its exclusivity in the US this month after the patent expired in Europe in September.

But with the introduction of cheaper generic copies, Lilly says it now expects a "rapid and severe decline in Zyprexa sales".

Sales in other divisions of the company boosted overall profits, especially in animal health where sales were up 28% compared with Q3 of 2010.

As a result in the drop in profits, Lilly did not raise its full-year profit forecast but Damien Conover, a financial analyst at Morningstar, said the “sales look reasonably good”.