Viehbacher to replace Le Fur as Sanofi CEO
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis on Wednesday named GlaxoSmithKline executive Chris Viehbacher as its new CEO, ousting former research head Gerard Le Fur after less than two years in the job.
Halfords CEO resignsShares in Sanofi extended gains on the news, fuelled by hopes that the changeover will bring a fresh strategy at the group, which has struggled recently to get new drugs to market.
Sanofi said Viehbacher, 48, would take the helm from December 1, while Le Fur would continue to work in scientific areas within the group.
"It's a pretty bold and, frankly, surprising move," said Tim Anderson, an industry analyst at Sanford Bernstein.
"It's fairly material that they are bringing an outsider into this role because it has been an insular company that's felt like it has been run by a very small core group of insiders, and it just hasn't worked terribly well."
The news had been expected since Tuesday, when a person familiar with the situation said that Viehbacher, Glaxo's North American head, would take a top job at Sanofi and was likely to replace Le Fur.
Sanofi has been the laggard of the European pharmaceuticals sector in recent years and the company has a poor reputation for delivery, following a series of product setbacks.
Le Fur only took over as chief executive of Sanofi in January 2007, but industry analysts and people close to the company said relations with Sanofi's powerful chairman Jean-Francois Dehecq had been strained.
Dehecq was responsible for building Sanofi into the world's third-largest drugmaker through a string of mergers over 30 years.
SHAREHOLDER MOVES
|
|
