Sanofi Pasteur appoints new chief

By Park Jae-hyuk

Sanofi Pasteur Korea, the global business unit of Sanofi here, announced Wednesday the appointment of Baptiste de Clarens as general manager (GM), effective July.

The new chief had built up professional expertise in the international market through managing a range of responsibilities from finance and sales to marketing and business operation.

He first joined Sanofi Pasteur in 2006 and moved to Singapore in 2011. His most recent role was general manager for Sanofi Pasteur covering Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

“It is a great honor and privilege for me to serve as general manager of Korea where Sanofi Pasteur has continued its commitment to the local market since 1989. I am looking forward to working together with Korean colleagues to empower Koreans to live life to the fullest,” he said.

His predecessor Regis Launay moved to Sanofi Pasteur headquarters in Lyon as global franchise head for pediatric and booster vaccines.

During his three-year tenure as Korean head, Sanofi Pasteur has launched various products in Korea. In addition, the Seoul-based firm dedicated itself to the Helping Hands program, a philanthropic program to protect the homeless as well as vulnerable children from disease.

Since 2014, it has maintained a strategic partnership with SK Chemicals to co-develop an innovative pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. More recently, it started research aimed at developing a Zika virus vaccine.

As a key vaccine provider in the Korean market, the company provides a range of vaccines including a flu vaccine.