With former head David Loew moving to the CEO position at Ipsen, Sanofi appointed French national Thomas Triomphe as the new head of its vaccines business unit, Sanofi Pasteur, on June 15th 2020.
Under the watch of CEO Paul Hudson, appointed at the end of 2019, Sanofi has initiated a large-scale restructuring of the organisation into three core global business units: Specialty Care, Vaccines – via Sanofi Pasteur – and General Medicines, with Consumer Healthcare becoming a standalone organization. Triomphe’s central mandate will be to ensure the company’s global leadership in vaccine development.
The firm’s vaccines unit reached USD 5.7 billion in 2019, up 9.3 percent from the previous year. Sanofi’s vaccine portfolio currently has 12 candidates at various stages of development, and its vaccine technology is being leveraged in partnership with other firms. Triomphe will oversee the vaccine unit’s continued sales growth.
After joining the company in 2004, Triomphe’s responsibilities expanded to eventually directing the firm’s sales and marketing at country, regional and global levels. He also previously spent time managing the Asia Pacific region out of Singapore and was the head of Sanofi Pasteur Japan. In his last position as Head of Franchises and Product Strategy, Triomphe collaborated with R&D and Industrial Affairs to design Sanofi’s vaccines strategy and implement global brands.
As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, Triomphe is taking the reins at a crucial moment. Along with his other responsibilities, he will steer the firm’s collaboration with GSK on a vaccine, which is set to supply up to 60 million doses in the UK alone.
