Sanofi-Aventis appoints new chief financial officer

Sanofi-Aventis has appointed a new chief financial officer, two weeks after the company announced a new chief executive officer.

It follows the resignation from the role by Jean-Claude Leroy, who has worked at the company from 2004.

As a result, his deputy – Laurence Debroux – will take on the position from Wednesday (December 17th).

The role-changing comes two weeks after former GlaxoSmithKline executive Chris Viehbacher took over as chief executive officer.

“It’s a start of a series of management changes at top level to turn around the company,” Helvea analyst Karl Heinz Koch told Reuters.

Earlier this week, Sanofi-Aventis announced the results of a randomised phase III study, which saw adult patients with haematological malignancies at high or potential risk for tumour lysis syndrome taking Elitek (rasburicase).

As a result of the therapy, plasma uric acid levels in subjects were reduced, in comparison to taking allopurinol alone.

Speaking at the time, professor of medicine and deputy chair at the University of Texas’ department of leukaemia and principal investigator of the trial Dr Jorge Cortes said: “Elitek controlled plasma uric acid in a larger percentage of patients and in a shorter period of time than allopurinol.”