The board of directors held a meeting Wednesday, October 29 and decided unanimously to remove Christopher A. Viehbacher as chief executive officer of Sanofi. As a consequence Christopher A. Viehbacher resigned as a director of Sanofi.

Pending the decision on the appointment of a new CEO, the board asked Serge Weinberg to fulfill jointly, as of October 29 and on a temporary basis, the functions of chairman and CEO. As soon as a new CEO will be appointed, the group's governance will return to a chairman and a separate CEO.

In other news, Thierry Desmarest has tendered his resignation from the board of directors of the company in order to focus on his role as chairman of the French oil company Total following the recent passing of Total Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie.

​Source: Sanofi