Hudson to Succeed Brandicourt As Sanofi
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
No. 3959 June 14, 2019 him all the assets he needs to accelerate growth and lead the group’s adaptation to new strategic challenges, particularly in the areas of R&D and digital.” He went on to say that the “human values” of Hudson, a Brit- ish citizen and avid supporter of Manches- ter United, will “enable him to mobilize all the energies and increase the agility, that a group such as Sanofi needs, to face the new challenges of our industry and the changes in healthcare systems around the world.” It was no secret that Brandicourt, who joined from Bayer AG in 2015, was look- ing to retire and Sanofi began the search for his successor earlier this year. Never- theless, observers were surprised that the search produced a candidate so quickly to replace the Frenchman, who Weinberg thanked “for the energy with which he has steered the group through a complex period and for his decisive contribution Hudson To Succeed Brandicourt to the company’s return to growth.” As Sanofi CEO TSCHUDIN NEW PHARMA HEAD FOR NOVARTIS KEVIN GROGAN [email protected] Hudson’s replacement will be Marie- France Tschudin, currently president of anofi’s search for a new CEO to re- Hudson has built up Advanced Accelerator Applications SA, place Olivier Brandicourt, who has the French nuclear medicine specialist Sdecided to retire, has ended with an impressive track that Novartis acquired last year, gaining the appointment of Paul Hudson, head of access to its approved peptide receptor ra- pharma at Novartis AG, to its top post. record when it comes to dionuclide therapy Lutathera (lutetium Lu The announcement is something of 177 dotatate). A Swiss citizen who speaks a coup for Sanofi as Hudson, who is 51 successful launches of six languages, she joined Novartis in Janu- years old, comes with a wealth of ex- key products. ary 2017 and became head of pharma for perience in the sector, most recently Europe. Before joining Novartis, Tschudin as head of pharmaceuticals for Astra- spent 10 years at Celgene Corp. in a vari- Zeneca PLC in North America before ety of leadership positions. he moved to Novartis in 2016. In the losing spondylitis, which has become Tschudin said she was “excited to be three years he has been at the Swiss Novartis’s best-selling product. One of given the opportunity to lead and further major, Hudson has built up an impres- his last major projects at Novartis was develop one of the greatest businesses sive track record when it comes to the acquisition of dry eye drug Xiidra in our industry. I would like to thank Paul successful launches of key products, (lifitegrast) from Takeda. SC125196 for his leadership and his focus on people notably Cosentyx (secukinumab) for Serge Weinberg, Sanofi’s chairman, said and I wish him continued success going psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and anky- that Hudson’s skills and experience “give forward.” Published online 7 June 2019 FOR THE LATEST BUSINESS INSIGHT ON THE BIOPHARMA INDUSTRY VISIT: SCRIP.PHARMAINTELLIGENCE.INFORMA.COM BIO 2019 Notebook ASCO Review BMS’s Leadership Changes What went down in Philadelphia (p7) Seek progess and you shall find How R&D is shaping up post- (p13-19) Celgene (p5) IN THIS ISSUE from the editor [email protected] Paul Hudson has his work cut out to deal with the ongo- off, and with the news of Brandicourt’s appointment in ing challenges faced by Sanofi following the retirement February 2015, which was met by a 1% decline. For more of Olivier Brandicourt. He will need to act decisively on the challenges facing Hudson at Sanofi, see p4. to provide Sanofi with clear direction for the future, Novartis is also feeding into the new Bristol-Myers while at the same time treading carefully and winning Squibb management: following the latter’s merger with the confidence of the board: Brandicourt’s predecessor Celgene, Samit Hirawat, Novartis’s head of oncology Chris Viehbacher’s radical actions were not warmly wel- development, will join to lead drug development across comed by the French company’s directors and he was the business. More details of the changes at BMS, in- fired in 2014. Chairman Serge Weinberg remains. cluding planned departures of the CSO and CFO, can The market was encouraged by Hudson’s appoint- be found on p5. ment: Sanofi’s share price on the Paris bourse rose by For those of you looking for a career move yourselves, 4.4% on the day of the announcement, adding more have you considered CBER? As our reporters at BIO than €4bn to the company’s market capitalization. This found out, the FDA’s biologics evaluation center is keen contrasts with the negative reception for Viehbacher’s to get new people on board and in training to deal with sacking in October 2014, which prompted a 4.5% sell- the growing cell and gene therapy workload (see p8-9). LEADERSHIP ADVERTISING DESIGN Phil Jarvis, Mike Ward, Christopher Keeling Paul Wilkinson Karen Coleman DESIGN SUPERVISOR SUBSCRIPTIONS Gayle Rembold Furbert Dan Simmons, Shinbo Hidenaga EDITORS IN CHIEF Andrea Charles EDITORIAL OFFICE Ian Haydock (Asia) John Davis Blue Fin Building Eleanor Malone (Europe) Kevin Grogan 3rd Floor, 110 Southwark St Denise Peterson (US) Ian Schofield London, SE1 0TA Vibha Sharma CUSTOMER SERVICES Joanne Shorthouse EXECUTIVE EDITORS US Toll-Free: +1 888 670 8900 COMMERCIAL Sten Stovall US Toll: +1 908 547 2200 Alexandra Shimmings (Europe) UK & Europe: +44 (20) 337 73737 Mary Jo Laffler (US) US Australia: +61 2 8705 6907 Michael Cipriano POLICY AND REGULATORY Japan: +81 3 6273 4260 Derrick Gingery Maureen Kenny (Europe) Email: clientservices@ Joseph Haas Nielsen Hobbs (US) pharma.informa.com Mandy Jackson ASIA Cathy Kelly Jessica Merrill TO SUBSCRIBE, VISIT Anju Ghangurde scrip.pharmaintelligence.informa.com Jung Won Shin Brenda Sandburg TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT Brian Yang Bridget Silverman Sue Sutter [email protected] EUROPE All stock images in this publication Neena Brizmohun courtesy of www.shutterstock.com Francesca Bruce unless otherwise stated Scrip is published by Informa UK Limited. ©Informa UK Ltd 2019: All rights reserved. ISSN 0143 7690. 2 | Scrip | 14 June 2019 © Informa UK Ltd 2019 Motif All At Sea Novartis Investing Progress To Be Found 20 9 15 20 exclusive online content inside: COVER / Hudson To Succeed Brandicourt As Sanofi CEO Sanofi Pasteur Head: Global Flu Vaccination 3 Sanofi Pasteur Head: Global Flu Vaccination Rates Rates ‘Dangerously Low’ ‘Dangerously Low’ STEN STOVALL [email protected] 4 The Challenges Facing Paul Hudson At the Helm of Sanofi 5 Bristol-Myers Squibb Unveils Post-Celgene Leadership Team, With Big R&D Changes 6 Aceto Claims Aurobindo Caused Its Collapse 7 BIO 2019 Notebook: Sharpless On Pricing, Takeda M&A Strategy, FDA Cell And Gene Therapy Staffing 9 Motif Plunges As FDA Demands New Iclaprim Study 10 Bayer Pays Arvinas $50m To Form Protein Degrader R&D Pact The chief of Sanofi’s vaccines arm is on a mission to con- vince governments around world to increase their overall 11 Time For AI To Deliver In Drug Discovery, Says Atomwise CEO flu vaccination rates, especially in China, which is danger- ously low at around 2%. 12 Disorderly Brexit May Necessitate Drug Airlifts, David Loew believes such action would prevent thou- Sanofi UK Head Warns sands of deaths and help reduce use of antibiotics and fight antimicrobial resistance. 13 With New Leadership, Roche Goes Back To Basics At ASCO While flu vaccination rates in the US, UK, Canada and Australia “are fairly healthy” the rest of the world needs to 15 BeiGene, Hengrui Among China Firms Flexing New raise their levels to better protect their populations and re- Oncology Muscle At ASCO duce healthcare costs, Loew said in an interview. “Clearly Germany, France, Switzerland and others need 16 ASCO Review: Progress Is Where You Find It to make stronger efforts. The World Health Organization has recommended that countries achieve a 75% flu vac- 20 Novartis’s Drug Discovery Head Jay Bradner On What NIBR cination rate for their overall populations. Nobody is there Is Investing In at that level yet,” Loew told Scrip when in London this week for meetings with British government officials. 22 Pipeline Watch He added though that the UK has done better than most other countries on that score. 23 Appointments “The UK’s flu vaccination rate is around 65% overall. That’s because the country recognized the importance of flu vaccinations very early on as a preventative measure and has done a stellar job by being very systematic, result- ing in very high vaccination rates.” Published online 5 June 2019 @PharmaScrip /scripintelligence To read the rest of this story go to: https://bit.ly/2IwZKoB /scripintelligence /scripintelligence scrip.pharmaintelligence.informa.com 14 June 2019 | Scrip | 3 HEADLINE NEWS The Challenges Facing Paul Hudson At the Helm of Sanofi KEVIN GROGAN [email protected] xpectations will be high when Paul gene abeparvovec). (Also see “It’s Official: Bryan Garnier analyst Jean-Jacques Hudson takes over as Sanofi CEO Novartis SMA Gene Therapy Zolgensma Is Le Fur wrote in a 7 June note to inves- Efrom Olivier Brandicourt on 1 Sep- World’s Most Expensive Drug” - Scrip, 24 tors that the move was good news for tember. Analysts are already weighing May, 2019.) Sanofi given that “Hudson has consider- up the challenges that will face the for- Analysts have greeted the appointment able experience and expertise.” He noted mer head of pharma at Novartis AG in of Hudson with enthusiasm. Deutsche that the Paris-headquartered firm, like his new job. Bank in a 7 June note said, “This will be Novartis, had been engaged in a reorga- He leaves the Swiss major with praise positively perceived by investors as it nization in the past couple of years, and ringing in his ears from former boss Vas shows that the board of Sanofi is ready “we have the feeling the changes are Narasimhan, who spoke of Hudson’s “ex- to appoint a non-French speaking CEO, being conducted at a slower pace [and] ceptional leadership in positioning our which is positive for the culture in terms of although talented top executives have pharmaceuticals business for strong fu- internationalization.” joined, we have some difficulties to see ture growth.