Sanofi's Board of Directors held a meeting today (Wednesday, October 29) at 8am and decided unanimously to remove Christopher A. Viehbacher as Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi. As a consequence Viehbacher resigned as a director of Sanofi.

Viehbacher has served as CEO of the French drug maker for the last six years, leading the group through a sensitive and important transition phase.

Going forward, Sanofi needs to pursue its development with a management aligning the teams, harnessing talents and focusing on execution with a close and confident cooperation with the Board, a press release says.

The Board confirms its commitment to continuing the strategy and the international expansion of the Group based on research and innovation and its growth platforms.

Pending the decision on the appointment of a new CEO, the Board asked Serge Weinberg to fulfill jointly, as of today and on a temporary basis, the functions of Chairman and CEO. As soon as a new CEO has been appointed, the Group's governance will return to a Chairman and a separate Chief Executive Officer.