Only days after the surprise ouster of Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson, the executive roster shake-ups at the French drug giant are continuing with the appointment of a new specialty care chief.
Sanofi's Manuela Buxo has been promoted to head up Sanofi's specialty care unit, including responsibility over the key growth driver Dupixent, with the change effective at the beginning of March.
This will be at least partially familiar territory for Buxo, who currently leads Sanofi's global immunology alliance franchise. In this role, she's "driven the global expansion and growth of Dupixent" for the past two years, Sanofi said in a Feb. 17 press release.
Buxo replaces Brian Foard, who has accepted an external leadership opportunity and will leave Sanofi at the end of the month, the pharma giant said. Foard joined Sanofi nine years ago and has played a major role in strengthening the company's global position in specialty care, the drugmaker said in its release.
Serving on Sanofi's executive committee, Buxo will form part of Belén Garijo's leadership team when the outgoing Merck KGaA chief joins Sanofi as CEO at the end of April.
Garijo's appointment became public last week, when Sanofi said it was parting ways with six-year helmsman Paul Hudson. In making the move, Sanofi said Garijo "will bring an increased rigor to the implementation of Sanofi's strategy" and "accelerate" its efforts to prepare for the future. She'll also prioritize strengthening the "productivity, governance and innovation capacity" of the company's R&D unit, the company added in its announcement.
For about two months, Sanofi's future leader will be the only female CEO in Big Pharma after former GSK chief Emma Walmsley stepped down from her position at the turn of the calendar year. But Garijo won't be alone for long, as Takeda's incoming CEO Julie Kim will take up the top spot at the Japanese drugmaker in June.
As for Buxo, she'll be heading up one of Sanofi's most important groups. Within specialty care resides Dupixent, the Regeneron-partnered immunology blockbuster that brought in sales of 15.7 billion euros ($18.6 billion) last year, a 25% increase from the prior year. As the drug moves closer to its patent cliff early in the next decade, Sanofi execs are busy identifying future areas of growth to offset Dupixent's eventual losses.
Also in the specialty care group at Sanofi are Sobi-partnered hemophilia A therapy Altuviiio, rare blood disorder treatment Cablivi and Pompe disease therapy Nexviazyme, among other drugs.