Sanofi Appoints Paulo Fontoura as Global Head of Pharma R&D
Sanofi announced on Monday the appointment of Paulo Fontoura as Executive Vice President in charge of Global Pharma R&D, succeeding Houman Ashrafian who is leaving the company. Fontoura, former head of clinical development at Roche, will take up his new role on September 1, 2026, and will join the executive committee of the laboratory.
Neurologist and Research Physician with Over 25 Years of Experience
Paulo Fontoura will be responsible for the entire innovation chain at Sanofi in pharmaceuticals: research, translational medicine, clinical development, and regulatory affairs. The candidate has accumulated over 25 years of experience in academic medicine, translational sciences, and pharmaceutical innovation. He is a neurologist and research physician, and most recently held the position of Chief Medical Officer at Xaira Therapeutics, a biotech specializing in molecule discovery through generative artificial intelligence.
Over 15 Years at Roche, Tracking 60 Molecules
Before joining Xaira, Fontoura spent over 15 years at Roche, where he held a series of leadership positions culminating as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development in neuroscience, immunology, ophthalmology, infectious diseases, and rare diseases. During his tenure at the Basel-based group, his teams tracked the development of more than 60 new molecular entities and contributed to over 20 first FDA and EMA approvals, including several breakthrough therapies. He holds a medical degree and a PhD from the New University of Lisbon and completed a postdoctoral training in neuro-immunology at Stanford. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and has over 80 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
