Ahora será solo SANOFI...

Sanofi-Aventis SA shareholders will vote May 6 on a proposal by the board to change the French drugmaker’s name to “Sanofi.”

The goal is to simplify the name, said Jean-Marc Podvin, a spokesman for the Paris-based company. A six-syllable name is difficult to pronounce in some countries, such as China, he said by e-mail.

The board decided March 9 to propose the change, Podvin said. The proposal was among the items in the meeting agenda published by the company March 16 in BALO, a French official bulletin of legal announcements. Les Echos reported it earlier today.

The Aventis name has been used since the 1999 merger of Germany’s Hoechst AG and Rhone-Poulenc SA of France. The combined company, Aventis SA, was acquired by Sanofi-Synthelabo SA in 2004.

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