Sanofi Picks Bayer's Brandicourt as New CEO

Olivier Brandicourt will be the next chief executive officer of Sanofi, the company announced on Feb. 19, 2015. "Sanofi undertook a rigorous selection process to identify the right person to lead Sanofi forward at an important time for our company,” said Serge Weinberg, acting CEO and chairman of the board of directors at Sanofi, in a press release. "Olivier Brandicourt's strong experience combined with his international profile, deep knowledge of US and emerging healthcare markets, and his capability to unite teams will provide new dynamism to Sanofi's strategy of diversification and innovation."

Brandicourt, who has been chairman and CEO of Bayer HealthCare AG since 2013, will assume the new position at Sanofi on Apr. 2, 2015. He has held prior executive-level positions at Pfizer and Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, and he is a trained physician. He will replace former CEO Chris Viehbacher, who was ousted in October 2014.

Bayer agreed to release Brandicourt in April and announced in a separate statement that board member Werner Baumann will take over the function of chairman at Bayer HealthCare AG. Dr. Marijn Dekkers, chairman of the board of management of Bayer AG, thanked Brandicourt for his contributions to Bayer and wished him the best in his new role.

Source:
Sanofi