New Boss Aids Sanofi's American Dream

Forbes.com 10.09.2008 23:46
New Boss Aids Sanofi's American Dream


LONDON - The revelation that GlaxoSmithKline's Chris Viehbacher would take the top spot at France's Sanofi-Aventis gave a boost to Sanofi's shares on Wednesday, with the new boss likely to revamp the pharmaceutical firm's position in the United States and bolster its strength in emerging markets.



(...) The reason for the change hinges on the American market, according to LBBW analyst Timo Kuerschner, as this has been Viehbacher's area of expertise. "North America is a point of weakness for Sanofi-Aventis," he told Forbes.com. "The American market is not so easy to understand, it has some specialities, so I think someone who comes from America will know better."

Chris Viehbacher announced he was leaving GlaxoSmithKline on Monday, after losing the race to replace Jean-Pierre Garnier as company CEO to Andrew Witty, head of European pharmaceuticals.

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