Another Beheading
Listen for as much grief as we give our wine drinking friends in France there is one thing Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) is very good at; corporate beheadings. The most gruesome of course was the beheading of then CEO Chris Viehbacher. Well Diabetic Investor has learned that effective January 1, 2016 Pierre Chancel Senior Vice President, Global Diabetes will be gone. This announcement came during a company town hall meeting in Germany.
Now we don’t know if this is cause for “Danser dans la rue” (look it up) but it’s further evidence that Olivier and our good buddy Serge have had just about all they can take and realize major changes are needed within the diabetes franchise. And here’s something we never thought we would write but Olivier and Serge should be given credit for this most recent beheading, maybe just maybe Serge was serious when he said that people need to be held accountable.
In terms of who may replace Pierre it better be somebody who’s damn good, even better if this replacement came from outside the company someone who is not infected with the Sanofi virus of indecision. An added bonus get somebody with diabetes experience, someone who understands not just the insulin and GLP-1 markets but also how to work with payors. Please and we are begging here do not bring in someone from the device side of diabetes or a crony from Bayer who had a cup of coffee in diabetes. This franchise has some serious problems and the solutions won’t be easy or pleasant.
Next item on the list which should come soon are the layoffs here in the US. Hate to repeat ourselves but there is no way margins can improve without a reduction in head count.
One last thing while we’re at it, unlike their American counterparts who are very diplomatic when they behead someone, the French most likely because of their history don’t come up with any BS like this person is going to pursue other interest or spend more time with the family. Nope they just chop of their head and say next……
