Sanofi has appointed Paulo Fontoura as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development Pharma, effective 1 September 2026. He will be a member of Sanofi’s Executive Committee, based in Paris, and will report to CEO Belén Garijo.
As head of R&D Pharma, Fontoura will lead Sanofi’s end-to-end innovation engine, spanning research, translational medicine, clinical development and regulatory affairs, with responsibility for advancing a differentiated pipeline and accelerating the delivery of transformative medicines to patients.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning academic medicine, translational science, clinical development and pharmaceutical innovation, Paulo joins Sanofi at an important moment as the company continues to advance its R&D transformation and progress a pipeline of new medicines across multiple therapeutic areas.
Fontoura has played a leading role in the development of significant medicines across neuroscience, immunology, rare diseases, ophthalmology and infectious diseases. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer of Xaira Therapeutics, an AI-native biotechnology company focused on transforming drug discovery and development through generative artificial intelligence.
Prior to Xaira, he spent more than 15 years at Roche, where he held a series of senior leadership positions culminating as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development for Neuroscience, Immunology, Ophthalmology, Infectious and Rare Diseases. During his tenure at Roche, he oversaw a global organisation of physicians and clinical scientists and was accountable for managing a broad late-stage portfolio across multiple therapeutic areas. Over the years, his teams contributed to the development of over 60 new molecular entities, across several therapeutic modalities, leading to over 20 FDA and EMA first approvals and line extensions, including multiple breakthrough therapies across neuroscience, rare diseases, immunology and ophthalmology.
Belén Garijo, Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi, said: “Paulo is a highly respected R&D leader with a strong track record across research, development and innovation. His scientific expertise, development experience and leadership of large-scale innovation organisations will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline and shape the future of R&D at Sanofi.”
Fontoura commented: “In recent years, Sanofi has established a leadership position in immunology and built strong positions in several other areas of significant unmet medical need, while demonstrating a clear commitment to scientific innovation and AI-powered transformation. I am deeply honoured to join the company at this important moment and help Sanofi to expand and transform its pipeline and grow its leadership role in biopharma, and I look forward to working with our talented teams to advance breakthrough medicines for patients around the world.”
Fontoura succeeds Houman Ashrafian, who has decided to pursue an opportunity outside the company.