Taking over from Dr Houman Ashrafian, the 25-year industry veteran will help to advance the firm’s innovation strategy.
Sanofi is appointing Dr Paulo Fontoura as its new Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development Pharma. He will replace Dr Houman Ashrafian–who held the role for three years–on 1 September.
As head of R&D Pharma, Paulo will lead innovation across Sanofi’s research, translational medicine, clinical development and regulatory affairs arms, with a focus on advancing a differentiated pipeline and accelerating the delivery of medicines.
On his appointment, Paulo Fontoura said: ”In recent years, Sanofi has established a leadership position in immunology and built strong positions in several other areas of significant unmet medical need, while demonstrating a clear commitment to scientific innovation and AI-powered transformation.
“I am deeply honoured to join the company at this important moment and help Sanofi to expand and transform its pipeline and grow its leadership role in biopharma, and I look forward to working with our talented teams to advance breakthrough medicines for patients around the world.”
As a board-certified neurologist and physician-scientist, Paulo has over 25 years of experience spanning academic medicine, translational science, clinical development and pharmaceutical innovation.
Paulo currently serves as Chief Medical Officer of Xaira Therapeutics, an AI-native biotechnology company. Prior to this, he led clinical development at Roche, where he honed his senior leadership over a period of more than 15 years. His tenure saw more than 20 FDA and EMA first approvals and line extensions across multiple therapeutic modalities. His last role at Roche was as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development for Neuroscience, Immunology, Ophthalmology, Infectious and Rare Diseases.
Belén Garijo, who took on the helm as Sanofi’s Chief Executive Officer at the end of April, welcomed Paulo to the Executive Team, remarking that he “is a highly respected R&D leader with a strong track record across research, development, and innovation. His scientific expertise, development experience, and leadership of large-scale innovation organisations will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline and shape the future of R&D at Sanofi.”
Under her leadership, in early March the firm licensed a JAK/ROCK inhibitor with breakthrough potential in chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) for post-transplant patients. The $1.53 billion deal involves Sino Biopharmaceutical’s oral small molecule therapy Anxu (rovadicitnib) and could advance Sanofi’s haematology portfolio.
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