Dr Gary Nabel has left US medical research centre the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join Sanofi as senior VP, chief scientific officer and deputy to the president for global R&D.
In his new role, he will hold responsibility for Sanofi’s scientific strategy for all of its units, including pharmaceuticals, animal health and vaccines, and will focus on improving translational approaches in research.
Dr Nabel will be based at Sanofi’s offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts – the city he studied in during his time as Harvard University.
“I am very excited that Dr Nabel will join Sanofi’s R&D organisation,” said Dr Elias Zerhouni, president, global R&D, Sanofi. “Our challenges today require that we re-invent our R&D model. Gary’s experience will be invaluable to help us achieve this goal.”
Dr Nabel leaves the NIH, which is part of the US government’s department of health, after 13 years as director of the vaccine research centre (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
During this period, he provided overall direction of the VRC, including the development of notable vaccine strategies against HIV, ebola, bird flu and SARS.
Prior to joining the NIH, Dr Nabel held several senior research and academic positions, including as director of the centre for gene therapy and co-director of the centre for molecular medicine at the University of Michigan.
It is the second high profile scientific appointment for Sanofi in recent weeks following the appointment of Dr Paul Chew to senior VP, chief medical officer and head of global medical affairs.