Sanofi is appointing Belén Garijo chief as director and chief executive officer after its annual meeting, underscoring the company's leadership and governance changes.
Sanofi shareholders approved the appointment of Belén Garijo to the board at the company’s annual general meeting held on April 29, clearing the way for her to take over as chief executive officer on May 1.
The leadership change comes alongside approval of the 2025 accounts, a dividend distribution of $4.81 per share and several board updates, signaling a broader governance reset at one of Europe’s largest biopharmaceutical groups.¹
Frédéric Oudéa, chairman of the board, said: “Belén Garijo possesses a rare combination of scientific expertise and operational leadership, developed at the highest level in demanding global environments. A physician by training, she has built a strong track record at the intersection of R&D, strategy, and business model transformation. The Board of Directors has chosen her to lead Sanofi in its next phase of development, with a clear priority: strengthen execution discipline, refine capital allocation, and more consistently translate the quality of our science into sustainable performance.”
Garijo’s official appointment comes after being
Garijo previously served for five years as chief executive officer and president of Merck, after joining that company in 2011. During that period, she oversaw changes in the healthcare business that the release described as a turnaround shaped by portfolio repositioning, research and development reorganization and commercial model realignment.¹
Her earlier ties to Sanofi may also be relevant to continuity, as she previously served as senior vice president of global operations Europe at Sanofi-Aventis and led the integration of Genzyme after its acquisition.¹
“She also has the benefit of many successful years at Sanofi during her career. In an increasingly demanding environment, her approach, grounded in clarity of choices and consistency of implementation, will be essential to accelerate the company's transformation and create long-term value for patients, our shareholders, our employees and all our other stakeholders,” said Oudéa.
For a large biopharmaceutical manufacturer balancing pipeline productivity, global supply demands and investor expectations, her background suggests familiarity with both post-merger integration and the complexities of scaling specialty and biologics-focused operations.1
Aside from the appointment of Garijo, the annual general meeting approved all resolutions, including renewals of board mandates for Christophe Babule and Jean-Paul Kress.1 Christel Heydemann, chief executive officer of Orange, was also named an independent board member, with Sanofi saying she would contribute experience in leadership as well as digital and artificial intelligence technologies.¹
Following the annual meeting, Sanofi’s board now consists of 16 members, including two employee representatives. According to the company, the board has an independence rate of 79%, includes 57% women and has eight members of foreign nationality, representing 50% of the board.¹
Further committee changes followed the departures of Paul Hudson and Patrick Kron, with the board appointing Oudéa as chairman of the Appointments, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.2
Garijo also joined the Strategic Committee, while Heydemann was appointed to both the Appointments, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Compensation Committee.¹
Beyond the chief executive transition, shareholders approved the social and consolidated accounts for fiscal year 2025 and backed an ordinary annual dividend of $4.81 per share, to be paid May 7, 2026.¹ Those decisions place the governance changes in a broader capital-markets context, as the company is managing leadership turnover while also maintaining planned shareholder returns.
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