Seems you can't turnaround without somebody mentioning the 'fiscal cliff.' But there's another cliff and Jim Cramer thinks it deserves attention too.
The patent cliff.
"Remember that one," asked Jim Cramer, "where virtually every big pharma company was supposed to be crushed as they lost patent protection on some of their most profitable drugs? "
We're right in the middle of the patent cliff but the Mad Money host says some drug companies saw this problem coming and they took action.
"They bridged the crevasse so that now they're doing better than ever."
Among the more impressive, Cramer said, is Sanofi.
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Sales of Sanofi's blockbuster drug Plavix took a nasty hit when the drug lost protection. Plavix had been the world's second-biggest-selling medicine until its U.S. patent lapsed in May.
However, "Sanofi realized the patent cliff would be a problem years ago -- from 2008 through this year the company was expected to lose patent protection on drugs that represented a quarter of its sales and close to half of its profits," said Cramer.
Unlike some rivals, however, Sanofi recognized the best defense would be a strong offense.
"They moved aggressively into new growth platforms like vaccines, animal health, and diabetes—all growth areas—and then last year they bought Genzyme for $20 billion in cash."