Paris, France - October 29, 2014, Paris, France - Sanofi board decided unanimously to remove Christopher A. Viehbacher as chief executive officer of Sanofi.
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As a consequence Mr. Viehbacher resigned as a director of Sanofi. Since December 2008, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi and is a Board member, in addition to being a member of the Strategy Committee. He is also Chairman of Genzyme, which Sanofi acquired in February 2011.
Mr. Viehbacher started his career in finance at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 1988. Throughout the next 20 years with the company, he acquired broad international experience in Europe, in the United States and in Canada.
His last position, before joining Sanofi was President, Pharmaceutical Operations North America. He was also a member of the board and Co-Chairman of the Portfolio Management Board.
Mr. Viehbacher was elected President of the EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) in June 2013 for a period of 2 years. He was Chairman of PhRMA in the United States (December 2010 – April 2012) and since February 2011 is Chair of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.
In 2003, the French government acknowledged his commitment to public health and business by awarding Mr. Viehbache a knight of the French Legion of Honor.
He received the prestigious 2012 Pasteur Foundation Award, recognizing his leadership role within the pharmaceutical industry’s support of research & development and improving health of the 7 billion people around the world. Amongst other commitments, he is also a member of International Business Council (WEF) and a member of the Board of Visitors of Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
He is a graduate of the Queens University (Ontario - Canada) and a certified public accountant.
Pending the decision on the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, the Board asked Serge Weinberg to fulfill jointly, and on a temporary basis, the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Since 2009, Mr. Weinberg has been a Director of Sanofi and was appointed Chairman of the Board in May 2010. He is also Chairman of the Appointments and Governance Committee as well as Chairman of the Strategy Committee of Sanofi.
He served as CEO of Pallas Finance for three years before joining the Pinault Group in 1990 as President of CFAO. In the Pinault Group he served as Chairman and CEO of Rexel from 1991 to 1995 and chaired the Management Board of the PPR Group (currently named Kering) for 10 years. He is Chairman of the investment firm Weinberg Capital Partners that he founded in March 2005.
He is also a member of the Board of the AFEP and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
He is also a founder of the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders (ICM).
Mr. Weinberg holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, a Graduate Degree of « Institut d’Études Politiques » and is a Graduate of ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration). ■