- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: February 28, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * SANOFI-AVENTIS	2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 2/9/2010	3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol CHATTEM INC [CHTT]
(Last)        (First)        (Middle) 174, AVENUE DE FRANCE	4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director                            ___ X ___ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below)          _____ Other (specify below)
(Street) PARIS, I0 75013        (City)              (State)              (Zip)	5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) ___ Form filed by One Reporting Person _ X _ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock, without par value	15757789   (1)	I	By River Acquisition Corp.   (2)

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g. , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	Reflects shares purchased in a tender offer.
( 2)	The shares are held by River Acquisition Corp. (the "Purchaser"). The Purchaser is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of sanofi-aventis ("Parent") and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Aventis Inc. ("Aventis"). Aventis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanofi-aventis Am??rique du Nord S.N.C. ("ADN"). ADN is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent. The shares may also be deemed to be indirectly beneficially owned by Parent, ADN and Aventis.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
SANOFI-AVENTIS 174, AVENUE DE FRANCE PARIS, I0 75013		X
River Acquisition Corp. 55 CORPORATE DRIVE BRIDGEWATER, NJ 08807		X
Sanofi-Aventis Amerique du Nord S.N.C. 174, AVENUE DE FRANCE PARIS, I0 75013		X
AVENTIS INC 3711 KENNETT PIKE, SUITE 200 GREENVILLE, DE 19807		X

Signatures
/s/ SEE EXHIBIT 99.1		2/11/2010
** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.