Sanofi’s acquisition of US biotechnology firm Genzyme has contributed towards continuing sales growth for the company, which rose 6.9% in the second quarter of 2011 to €8.35bn ($11.84bn).

Without Genzyme, sales fell 4% in comparison to corresponding quarter results for 2010 due to increasing generic competition.

The company’s results were also unfavourably affected by the weakening of the US dollar versus the euro, as well as poor performances from currencies from emerging markets such as the Venezuelan bolivar and Turkish lira.

For the first half of 2011, net sales reached €16.13bn ($22.87bn), representing a fall of 0.5% on a reported basis.