Sanofi said its R&D head Houman Ashrafian will depart, with Paulo Fontoura—chief medical officer at Xaira Therapeutics—set to take over as global head of R&D starting Sept. 1. The move comes under CEO Belén Garijo’s early tenure as Sanofi works to address pipeline disruption concerns. Fontoura will report to Garijo and is expected to lead pharma’s pipeline priorities after recent late-stage setbacks, including Sanofi’s discontinuation of a complement inhibitor program in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and mixed Phase 3 outcomes for venglustat across Gaucher and Fabry disease. Sanofi has also signaled an AI transformation push, including an “AI Centre of Excellence” in Toronto and additional expansion initiatives. Fontoura’s background includes senior leadership roles at Roche and a transition to Xaira Therapeutics, an AI-driven startup focused on hard-to-treat conditions. For stakeholders, the near-term question is whether the leadership change accelerates pipeline decisions and portfolio rebuilding fast enough to offset approaching revenue gaps tied to immunology patent expiry risk.