Sanofi has appointed Paulo Fontoura, MD, PhD, FAAN, as Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Head of Research and Development (R&D) Pharma, effective September 1, 2026. He will be a member of Sanofi's Executive Committee, based in Paris, and will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Belén Garijo. 

Fontoura will lead Sanofi's end-to-end innovation engine, spanning research, translational medicine, clinical development, and regulatory affairs, with responsibility for advancing a differentiated pipeline and accelerating the delivery of transformative medicines to patients. 

Paulo succeeds Dr. Houman Ashrafian, who has decided to pursue an opportunity outside the company.

With over 25 years of experience spanning academic medicine, translational science, clinical development, and pharmaceutical innovation, Fontoura joins Sanofi at an important moment as the company continues to advance its R&D transformation and progress a pipeline of new medicines across multiple therapeutic areas.

A board-certified neurologist and physician-scientist, Fontoura has played a leading role in the development of significant medicines across neuroscience, immunology, rare diseases, ophthalmology, and infectious diseases. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Xaira Therapeutics, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-native biotechnology company focused on transforming drug discovery and development through generative AI.

Prior to Xaira, he spent over 15 years at Roche, where he held a series of senior leadership positions culminating as Senior Vice President (SVP) and Global Head of Clinical Development for neuroscience, immunology, ophthalmology, infectious and rare diseases. During his tenure there, he oversaw a global organisation of physicians and clinical scientists and was accountable for managing a broad late-stage portfolio across multiple therapeutic areas. Over the years, his teams contributed to the development of over 60 new molecular entities, across several therapeutic modalities, leading to over 20 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) first approvals and line extensions, including multiple breakthrough therapies across neuroscience, rare diseases, immunology and ophthalmology.

Belén Garijo, CEO, Sanofi, said, "I want to thank Dr. Houman Ashrafian for his contribution to our company over the last 3 years and I wish him all the best in his next chapter. I am delighted to welcome Paulo to the Executive Team. Paulo is a highly respected R&D leader with a strong track record across research, development, and innovation. His scientific expertise, development experience, and leadership of large-scale innovation organisations will be invaluable as we continue to advance our pipeline and shape the future of R&D at Sanofi.”

Fontoura holds an MD and PhD from the New University of Lisbon and completed postdoctoral training in neuroimmunology at Stanford University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and has authored over 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Fontoura said, "I am thrilled to join Sanofi at such an exciting moment. In recent years, Sanofi has established a leadership position in immunology and built strong positions in several other areas of significant unmet medical need, while demonstrating a clear commitment to scientific innovation and AI-powered transformation. I am deeply honored to join the company at this important moment and help Sanofi to expand and transform its pipeline and grow its leadership role in biopharma, and I look forward to working with our talented teams to advance breakthrough medicines for patients around the world.”