After being ousted from Sanofi as its chief executive last year Chris Viehbacher has found a role as member of the board at a new Boston start-up.
Viehbacher, who spent six years at Sanofi until an apparent falling out with senior board members prompted his departure in October last year, will look to put his experience to good use at the newly founded biotech PureTech.
His move follows an aggressive fundraising campaign for the firm, which has raised $107m in just four months.
“It is an honour to join this very dynamic and powerful group of both minds and personalities,” Viehbacher said in a statement.
“PureTech’s pipeline of companies is at an exciting inflection point, and I think the talent within the management team and board can achieve great things.”
Prior to taking the top job at Sanofi, he worked for GlaxoSmithKline for 20 years, and ultimately headed up its North America operations.
He was one of several senior management staffers in-line to take GSK’s top job, but ultimately lost out to Sir Andrew Witty in 2008, prompting his move to the French pharma rival.
PureTech’s board includes a number of other veterans from pharma companies such as Merck, Pfizer and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
Among the 12 companies in PureTech’s pipeline are Akili Interactive Labs, which is a collaboration between game designers and neuroscientists to spot signs of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions.