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Sanofi has found its next chairman. Novartis Managing Director Paul Hudson will officially take over from retired Olivier Brandicourt on September 1st.
The 51-year-old Hudson was most recently CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. When Sanofi announced Hudson as the new CEO, he described him as “a seasoned leader with strong international experience, particularly in the US, Japan and Europe”. In addition to his work at Novartis, Hudson also held key roles at AstraZeneca and Schering Plow. He will move to Paris to take over the management of the company.
Serge Weinberg, chairman of Sanofi’s board of directors, said the company is pleased that Hudson will take over the helm. Referring to his skills and experience as an industry leader, Weinberg said he had the resources to “accelerate growth and lead the group’s adaptation to new strategic challenges, particularly in research and development and digital”.
“In his various leadership positions, he has demonstrated his strategic vision, strong leadership and ability to meet the greatest challenges, particularly with regard to innovation and digital transformation. Mr. Hudson has a very solid track record of successful product launches, ”said Sanofi in his announcement. “His human values will enable him to mobilize all the energies and increase the agility a group like Sanofi needs to face the new challenges in our industry and the changes in health systems around the world.”
Brandicourt announced his intention to resign in March as he neared his 65th birthday. The French company has an age limit for its CEO. Brandicourt has led Sanofi since 2015. During his tenure, he led a company reorganization that included a contract to swap Sanofi’s animal health business with Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim for the company’s consumer health business. He oversaw those too Sale of its generics division, Zentivato Advent International for $ 2.4 billion last year. It wasn’t just divestments during Brandicourt’s Sanofi tenure acquired the spinout Bioverativ, geared towards biogenic haemophilia, e.g. about $ 11.6 billion. So is the company snatched away Ablynx with a focus on nanobodies for $ 4.8 billion. The Ablynx deal quickly paid off when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved caplacizumab for the treatment of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura acquired by blood diseases about a month after the deal was announced. Brandicourt also played a key role in the company’s development partnership with Regeneron, which has resulted in several regulatory successes for Dupixent.
With regard to the resigning Brandicourt, the company thanked him for his many years as head of the company. Sanofi’s board of directors said it led the company through a “complex phase” and made a “critical contribution” to the company’s return to growth.
“Thanks to the actions taken during his tenure, Sanofi has accelerated its growth and has strong assets to regain the position it needs to be,” said Brandicourt’s board of directors.
Following the announcement from Sanofi, Novartis said Marie-France Tschudin, currently president of its subsidiary Advanced Accelerator Applications, will do so Takeover as President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. In a brief statement announcing Tschudin’s appointment, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan thanked Hudson for their service and positioning the company’s pharmaceuticals business for growth.
“He also established a new culture of commercial excellence, integrity and maintained a strong, diverse talent pool,” Narasimhan said in the statement.