Paulo Fontoura, Global Head of Research and Development Pharma at Sanofi, Board Member at Galapagos, shared a post by Sanofi on LinkedIn, adding:
“I am incredibly excited to be joining Belén Garijo and everyone at team Sanofi in this new role, to work together to create an amazing pipeline of new medicines that will make a real difference in the lives of patients. I am convinced that we stand at the threshold of a revolution in biopharma Research and Development, where we can combine our deepening understanding of disease biology with new computational tools in AI/ML to derive new insights that will solve the most complex biology problems and create cures for many more diseases around the world.
I want to thank everyone at Sanofi who has already sent me personal messages of welcome, support and encourage – I look forward to working with all of you, and I count on your partnership and energy to make this vision come true!
At the same time I want to thank everyone at Xaira Therapeutics for the amazing year and a half I’ve spent there, all the learnings and the excitement of building new AI products together.
I want to personally thank Marc Tessier-Lavigne for his visionary leadership, and all my LT colleagues Debbie Law, Hetu K, Ci Chu, Bo Wang, Aarron Willingham, Jeff Jonker, Rachel Lane and Julia Tran for all the fun and partnership! To all Xairanauts, I am amazed at what we’ve already accomplished, and will be cheering on as you continue to break new barriers!”
Quoting Sanofi’s post:
“Sanofi appoints Paulo Fontoura as Global Head of R&D Pharma.
Paulo Fontoura will join Sanofi as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development Pharma, effective September 1, 2026. He will be a member of Sanofi’s Executive Committee, based in Paris.
With over 25 years of experience in academic medicine, translational science, and pharmaceutical innovation, Paulo brings expertise across research, clinical development, and regulatory affairs.
His track record includes contributing to the development of 60+ new molecular entities and 20+ FDA and EMA first approvals across neuroscience, immunology, rare diseases, and ophthalmology.
Paulo joins from Xaira Therapeutics, where he served as Chief Medical Officer, and previously held senior leadership roles at Roche.
‘Paulo is a highly respected R&D leader with a strong track record across research, development, and innovation. His expertise will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline and shape the future of R&D at Sanofi’
Said CEO Belén Garijo
Read the full press release.”
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