Reports from France suggest that an extensive string of differences over strategy led the board of French drugmaker Sanofi to dismiss its chief executive Christopher Viehbacher on Oct. 29.
The long list of complaints is said to have included disagreements over the CEO's alleged authoritarian management style and the globalization of the company, reflected in the Canadian-German citizen's decision to move his personal residence to Boston.

Viehbacher's relationship with investors reportedly had been rocky at times. The news agency Reuters quoted an unnamed pharmaceutical industry executive as saying the CEO had done a "relatively poor" job of communicating the company's new strategy to the markets.

Others commenting on the board's action said, however, that Viehbacher and his management team appeared to have most recently reassured investors about the quality of Sanofi's pipeline. The company's stock rose nearly 20% from mid-July to mid-September.

Following the profit warning issued for the diabetes franchise the day before Viehbacher presented third quarter results on Oct. 29, the Sanofi share fell to a six-month low and plunge by a further 4% after the announcement of the CEO's removal.

Financial market reports said the decline over three days wiped out nearly €17 billion of the drugmaker's value.
In his results presentation, however, Viebacher said Sanofi's growth platforms, accounting for over 78% of sales improved by 10% in Q3, while at the same time saying the company had "recently seen a more challenging US diabetes price environment which will impact our diabetes sales throughout 2015."

Sanofi's first non-French CEO, who made waves overseas in 2011 with the acquisition of US biotech and rare diseases specialist Genzyme for $20 billion, was thrust into the negative spotlight most recently when he oversaw a review of options for the company's $8 billion portfolio of drugs manufactured in France without informing the board.

Following the announcement of the board's decision, chairman Serge Weinberg said he had had contact with large Sanofi shareholders who shared his concerns over Viehbacher's strategy execution. He also suggested that the company's US diabetes sales force had not been well managed.
Weinberg will serve as interim CEO of the French company until a successor to Viehbacher has been found. The board chairman said he had already had contact with potential candidates.

In the days leading up to the dismissal, Viehbacher told the French press that he had had word that the Sanofi board was already looking for a replacement for him.