Welcome to this week's Chutes and Ladders, our roundup of hirings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word--or the bad--from your shop to Eric Sagonowsky (email) or Amirah Al Idrus (email | Twitter), and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Sanofi pulls Dr. Yong-Jun Liu from AZ to serve as head of research |
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Sanofi ($SNY) named Dr. Yong-Jun Liu its head of research, a role in which he'll work with leadership to "build a competitive R&D organization," Sanofi's statement this week said, as well as lead all of the French pharma's research activities. Dr. Liu's work has led to the development of several key drug targets in allergy, immunology and oncology. A world-renowned immunology researcher with 25 years of pharma and medical experience, Dr. Liu has served as founding director at the Cancer Immunology Research Institute at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He's also served at the Baylor Research Institute as VP and CSO and as director of the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research. He joins Sanofi from AstraZeneca's ($AZN) MedImmune, which he joined in 2014. At Sanofi, he'll report to Dr. Elias Zerhouni, president of R&D. "Yong-Jun will play a pivotal role in shaping a visionary R&D strategy for Sanofi and rejuvenating the company's early-stage pipeline," Zerhouni said in the release. "His world-class experience in immunology, oncology and translational medicine will be vital assets as Sanofi sets its sights on scientific excellence and innovation across its therapeutic areas." Story
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