John Reed, the global head of research and development at Sanofi SA, has left the France-based multinational and will be replaced on an interim basis by Dietmar Berger, currently chief medical officer and global head of development. Dr Reed led R&D at Sanofi since joining the company in 2018. His departure was announced by Sanofi on 13 February. Shortly thereafter, Johnson & Johnson Inc announced his appointment as executive vice president for pharmaceutical R&D.
At Sanofi, a search is now underway to identify Dr Reed’s successor. Before joining Sanofi, Dr Reed was head of pharma research and early development at Roche. There, he was responsible for R&D through Phase 2b proof-of-concept studies across all of the company’s therapeutic areas.
At Sanofi, Dr Reed reported to Paul Hudson, the chief executive, who joined the company on 1 September 2019. This was a time of change for Sanofi’s research and commercialisation strategy. With sales of insulins down and a long-term antibody collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc ending, Sanofi put a new emphasis on specialty care medicines and vaccines.
During Dr Reed’s tenure, Sanofi bought Kiadis Pharma, a cell therapy company, and Principia Biopharma, a company developing Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. The company also bought the vaccine developers Origimm Biotechnology and Translate Bio.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include information about John Reed’s appointment at Johnson & Johnson Inc.
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