Forbes health and science writer Matthew Herper took aim at Sanofi’s board of directors Wednesday calling the removal of CEO Chris Viehbacher a “huge mistake,” and characterized the move as having just “fired its boss over a bad quarter.” Herper credits Viehbacher—who joined Sanofi in 2008—with widening the company’s agreement with US biotech Regeneron—a collaboration which produced alirocumab—as well as the purchase of biotech co. Genzyme in 2011, which gave the company a portfolio of rare disease drugs. Herper concedes that there have been some missteps, citing the company’s acquisition of BiPar Sciences which proved unfruitful and the overpricing of a Regeneron colon cancer drug. He concludes that Sanofi now may be too bogged down in its own bureaucracy without Viehbacher, who “was able to move quickly and decisively.”
Forbes’s Matthew Herper sounds off on Viehbacher firing
Herper writes that Sanofi—without Viehbacher—is at risk of moving too slowly in an increasingly competitive industry.
