Sanofi Genzyme Head to Leave After 23 Years on the Job, Replacement Named
April 5, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Paris-based Sanofi announced today that Bill Sibold will step up as executive vice president of Sanofi Genzyme on July 1, 2017.
Sibold will replace David Meeker, who is leaving at the end of June after 23 years with the company. Meeker took over from Henri Termeer, the former chief executive officer of Genzyme, in 2011, when Genzyme was acquired by Sanofi.
Sibold is currently acting as head of Sanofi Genzyme’s Global Multiple Sclerosis, Oncology and Immunology operations, which he has held since January 2016. He joined Sanofi in 2011 as head of the multiple sclerosis (MS) franchise. As such, he led the launches of Aubagio and Lemtrada.
Originally from Canada, Sibold began his career with Eli Lilly . He held several leadership positions at Biogen . He also acted as chief commercial officer of Avanir Pharmaceuticals .
John Carroll, writing for Endpoints News, said, “You can expect Sibold to be assertive. He’s competitive and not the least bit shy about making his case for a company product. Back in 2013, for example, he told me that Sanofi Genzyme had nothing to fear from Tecfidera, on its way to flagship status at Biogen.”
“With a strong commitment to serving patients, Sanofi Genzyme has evolved from a rare disease company into a preeminent specialty care business, deeply rooted in science,” said Olivier Brandicourt, Sanofi’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “I am confident in Bill Sibold’s experience and leadership to build on this strong foundation as we chart the next chapter for Sanofi Genzyme, which has become a real growth driver for Sanofi. I would also like to thank David Meeker for his tireless dedication to our shared vision for Sanofi Genzyme and his personal passion for the patients we serve, both of which helped make our company the success it is today.”
Meeker and Sibold led the launches of Aubagio and Lemtrada, which are not a big part of Sanofi’s overall revenue. Sibold oversaw the preparations for the launch of Sanofi’s newly approved Dupixent (dupilumab) for eczema, as well as sarilumab.
Carroll writes, “Meeker has maintained a high profile in the Boston hub, which Sibold will inherit. Sanofi, under ex-CEO Chris Viehbacher, emphasized the Boston group after he took over. And when the board booted him, Olivier Brandicourt—who replaced him at the helm—kept that strategy in place.”
Meeker did not make a statement in the company announcement. The Boston Business Journal quoted from a 2014 interview when he talked about how he joined Sanofi after serving as a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. He said, “It was sort of a mid-life transition. I had an incredible experience working in pulmonary intensive care at the Cleveland Clinic. Loved taking care of patients. It was truly a unique experience, which shaped my time in industry to a great degree. I joined the cystic fibrosis gene-therapy program in its infancy, back in 1994. We made tremendous strides, along with several other groups who were working alongside us in gene therapy. It did not work, but I think cystic fibrosis benefitted greatly.”
Just last week, Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA had approved Dupixent for adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD). It is a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits overactive signaling of two proteins, IL-4 and IL-13, which are believed to cause the inflammation in AD.
“Dupixent is the result of years of tireless research by our scientists into the underlying causes of allergic and atopic disease,” said George Yancopoulos, Founding Scientist, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, in a statement. “In atopic dermatitis, Dupixent was shown to help clear the skin and manage the intense itch caused by the disease. Today’s approval would not be possible without the dedication of the clinical investigators and the participation of the patients who took part in the global LIBERTY AD clinical program.”