Bavarian Nordic has found its new CEO

Six months after Paul Chaplin said he was stepping down as chief executive of Bavarian Nordic, the Danish biopharma has named Tarja Stenvall to the role.

Bavarian Nordic said that Stenvall – who joins the company from Sanofi – will take over as CEO and president on 15th October and has been appointed after a "comprehensive search."

Stenvall has held senior positions at Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer, and most recently served as global head of Sanofi's diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Her previous roles included leadership roles in the French drugmaker's general medicines and vaccine divisions.

She joins Bavarian Nordic in the wake of an aborted $3 billion private equity buyout by Nordic Capital and Permira – acting through Innosera ApS – which was recommended by the company's board but failed to win enough shareholder support. It was opposed by pension fund ATP, the company's largest shareholder, which said the offer undervalued the business.

The failure to get the transaction done was followed by a shake-up in senior management, prompting the departures of both Chaplin and former board chair Luc Debruyne, who had thrown their weight behind the bid.

Anne Louise Eberhard, who was named chair after Debruyne's departure, said Stenvall "brings a proven ability to scale and lead a global life science business, combining strategic vision with deep experience from the global pharma and vaccines industry and passion for improving and protecting lives."

Bavarian Nordic focuses mainly on travel vaccines and distributes some shots on behalf of partners in some countries, and recently won approval for a vaccine against chikungunya, Vimkunya, which helped drive its second-quarter revenues up 23% to DKK 2.03 billion (around €272 million).

The company is targeting full-year revenues of around DKK 5.7 billion, as Vimkunya continues its international rollout, and Stenvall takes over as it brings forward additional vaccines for equine encephalitis, Lyme disease, and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).

"Bavarian Nordic is entering the next chapter from a position of strength," said Eberhard. "We have a clear purpose, and we will continue to scale our unique platform addressing infectious disease and improve the resilience of public health."

Stenvall, meanwhile, said she had been attracted by Bavarian Nordic's "unique combination of a strong scientific foundation, a proven global manufacturing and supply chain, and commercial platform."

Shares in Bavarian Nordic, which is listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen board, were up 2% after the announcement.