Sanofi appoints Manuela Buxo to lead Specialty Care and Dupixent strategy

Sanofi names Manuela Buxo to lead Specialty Care and Dupixent strategy

Sanofi appoints Manuela Buxo as head of its Specialty Care Global Business Unit, effective March 1, 2026, with Buxo joining the company’s Executive Committee and operating from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She succeeds Brian Foard, who is set to leave on Feb. 28 after accepting an external leadership role. The move places an experienced immunology and specialty-care executive at the helm of a unit that is central to Sanofi’s growth strategy.

Buxo brings more than 20 years of international healthcare experience and recent stewardship of Sanofi’s Global Immunology Alliance Franchise, where she is driving the global expansion and performance of Dupixent across multiple indications. Her responsibilities include overseeing worldwide strategy and execution for specialty medicines, and Sanofi highlights her deep operational knowledge of key markets and familiarity with the portfolio as assets for sustaining momentum in Specialty Care.

The company frames the appointment as a continuity play designed to keep Specialty Care priorities on track during the leadership transition. Olivier Charmeil, designated interim chief executive officer, thanks Foard for his contributions and signals confidence in Buxo’s ability to maintain speed of execution and strategic focus as the business integrates new launches and scales global access to key therapies.

Foard leaves after nearly a decade at Sanofi, having joined in 2017 and most recently leading the Specialty Care Global Business Unit as an Executive Committee member. Under his leadership, Sanofi’s Specialty Care unit strengthens its global position through rollouts of Dupixent across geographies and indications, a development Sanofi says substantially contributes to the company’s specialty portfolio performance.

Sanofi reiterates its commitment to advancing Specialty Care and ensuring continuity of execution through the transition. The company describes itself as an R&D‑driven, AI‑powered biopharma applying deep immune‑system knowledge to invent medicines and vaccines that address urgent global health challenges. Media enquiries are directed to Evan Berland.