Sanofi Dumps CEO Paul Hudson as Vaccine Slump and Patent Cliff Bite

Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, and Reuters contributed to this report.

Sanofi shook up its top brass on Thursday, announcing that CEO Paul Hudson will step down on Feb. 17 after six years in the job — and that Belén Garijo, currently CEO of Germany’s Merck KGaA, will take the reins in late April.

The move ends Hudson’s term amid growing frustration that the drugmaker has failed to replace its high-earning blockbusters as patents expire. Investors punished the uncertainty: Sanofi shares tumbled almost 6% on the news.

Hudson arrived in 2019 with a clear brief: rebuild Sanofi’s R&D pipeline and lift the group out of its dependence on a shrinking roster of top-selling drugs. That mission never fully clicked. The company repeatedly flagged missed expectations in trials and — crucially — still hasn’t lined up a clear successor to big revenue drivers that will lose exclusivity in the coming years.

On top of pipeline woes, Sanofi’s vaccine business has been under pressure, especially in the US policy environment. The unit — which deals in flu shots, RSV products and other staples — has been hit by shifting demand and political headwinds that have weighed on sales and margins. That combination made Hudson’s turnaround plans look stalled and left the board hunting for fresh leadership.

Enter Garijo. The 65-year-old Spanish executive, who spent 15 years earlier in her career at Sanofi, has run Merck KGaA and is expected to take charge after Sanofi’s shareholder meeting in April. The company says she’ll “accelerate the pace” of execution and lead the search for the next growth cycle. Sanofi’s board tapped interim boss Olivier Charmeil to steer the group between Hudson’s departure and Garijo’s start date.

Investors and analysts read the move as a sign that Sanofi’s board wants a different hand on the tiller — someone who can fix R&D lags and calm nerves about vaccines and the looming patent cliff. But the market wasn’t cheering: the stock slid on the announcement, reflecting doubts about how quickly a new boss can turn the ship.

Hudson acknowledged earlier that progress had been slower than hoped. He remains in place until mid-February and will leave as the company reshuffles strategy and prepares for fresh leadership. For now, the questions are obvious: can Garijo revive Sanofi’s product pipeline, steady vaccine revenues in a tricky US market, and reassure investors that the next decade won’t be defined by lost exclusivity and shrinking sales? The clock is ticking.