Sanofi Names New Pharma Research Head After Drug Setbacks

By Adria Calatayud


Sanofi said it appointed Paulo Fontoura as its new head of pharmaceuticals research & development, as the French drugmaker seeks to speed up its medicine pipeline after recent setbacks.

Fontoura will replace Houman Ashrafian, who decided to pursue an opportunity outside Sanofi, the company said Monday. Fontoura was most recently chief medical officer of Xaira Therapeutics, an artificial-intelligence biotechnology company, and spent more than 15 years at Roche before that, Sanofi said.

The appointment comes after some of Sanofi's late-stage drug candidates were hit by setbacks recently. The company said earlier this month it would stop a late-stage study of an experimental treatment for a rare immune disorder after concluding the drug was unlikely to deliver sufficient efficacy.


Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 22, 2026 02:28 ET (06:28 GMT)

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