February 16, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
The results of BioSpace’s fourth Biotech Temperature Poll are in and we heard you loud and clear: Sanofi’s next CEO will be French! Most of the 411 respondents polled said they believe the French drugmaker will undoubtedly name a compatriot to the top spot, with 70 percent polled saying they are confident the new choice will be French.
When asked if they thought the new exec would be male, an overwhelming 86 percent said yes. Only 14 percent though thought the new CEO would be a woman.
When asked where Sanofi might find their new chief executive, 80 percent said from a similarly sized Big Pharma company, while 20 percent thought the choice will come from a smaller company.
For potential candidates, 45 percent thought Bayer exec Olivier Brandicourt will become Sanofi’s new CEO, 35 percent thought Eric Cornut, from Novartis, will be, and 20 percent polled named Sanofi’s own Karen Linehan as the top prospect.
The majority of the respondents in this week’s poll were from the United States, with 76 percent of the 411 participants based in America. The rest hailed from a host of countries including Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Denmark, Australia, Romania, Vietnam, South Africa, The Philippines, Thailand, Spain, Aruba, Greece, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Two percent of respondents declined to identify their country of domicile.
For states, California led the pack, with 18 percent of the poll’s respondents based in that state. New Jersey followed with 15 percent, then Massachusetts at 13 percent. The rest were distributed throughout the U.S.
