Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) on Tuesday abandoned plans for a joint animal health venture with $5 billion in annual sales, citing the complexity of selling assets to placate regulators. The move sets back the French and U.S. drugmakers' plans to achieve economies of scale in the consolidating animal care industry and comes a month after they delayed the long-running deal's closing by another six months. It is also a blow to companies that had hoped to snap up assets with about $500 million in annual revenue that the pair would have had to sell to clear regulatory hurdles.
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