Sanofi names ex-Roche exec Fontoura as R&D chief
Paulo Fontoura, currently chief medical officer of Xaira Therapeutics, will replace Houman Ashrafian as Sanofi's R&D head on 1st September.
The R&D baton at Sanofi will soon be handed over, as the company's global head of R&D, Houman Ashrafian, departs to take up an as-yet undisclosed opportunity outside the company.
He is being replaced by Paulo Fontoura, who spent 16 years at Roche, rising to the position of global head of clinical development for neuroscience, immunology, ophthalmology, infectious and rare diseases, and is currently chief medical officer at virtual cell model developer Xaira Therapeutics, whilst still holding an academic position at Nova Medical School in Portugal, where he gained his medical degree.
The handover is due to take place on 1st September, and continues a change in leadership at Sanofi that saw chief executive Paul Hudson replaced by former Merck KGaA CEO Belén Garijo.
The shakeup in Sanofi's senior management reportedly followed a big increase in R&D spending by the French pharma group that was accompanied by some late-stage failures that blew some holes in its product pipeline.
That included an FDA rejection for oral BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib in multiple sclerosis – although, it has since been recommended for approval in the EU – along with less-than-stellar data for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) candidate itepekimab, and setbacks for Escherichia coli vaccine ExPEC9V, venglustat in Fabry disease, losmapimod in a form of muscular dystrophy, and riliprubart in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
"I want to thank Dr Houman Ashrafian for his contribution to our company over the last three years, and I wish him all the best in his next chapter," said Garijo, adding: "I am delighted to welcome Paulo to the executive team. Paulo is a highly respected R&D leader with a strong track record across research, development, and innovation."
She added: "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."
Fontoura is taking charge of an R&D pipeline that the company thinks boasts three 'pipeline-in-a-product' candidates, namely: OX40-targeting amlitelimab, seen as a successor to its immunology and inflammation blockbuster Dupixent (dupilumab) in diseases like asthma and atopic dermatitis; CD40-targetting multiple sclerosis candidate frexalimab; and oral TNF inhibitor SAR441566 in development for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
The company is expecting the trio to generate around $11 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade, helping Sanofi to prepare for the potential loss of patent protection for Dupixent in the early 2030s.
