Sanofi Genzyme’s human resources head, David Ford, has left the largest employer in the state of Massachusetts in the life sciences sector to join Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT) which is based in New York. While reporting its earnings on May 4, Intercept Pharmaceuticals revealed that Ford had joined the drugs firm as its chief of human resources. Intercept Pharmaceuticals mainly develops therapies aimed at treating liver diseases.
“We look forward to David’s leadership in further enhancing and developing our talented team and filling key positions in our growing organization,” said the chief executive officer of Intercept, Mark Pruzanski, in a statement.
Executive departures
Ford becomes the latest executive to leave Sanofi Genzyme in the recent past. He had spent close to 15 years at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based life sciences firm. Ford, who has an MBA from the Fontainebleau, France-based INSEAD, most recently served as the human resources vice president. In his capacity as a human resources executive both at Sanofi and in other organizations, Ford has worked in various countries and continents include Europe, New Zealand and South America.
Other high-ranking executives who have left Sanofi Genzyme in the recent past include David Meeker who was head of the Sanofi rare disease unit. Meeker, who has had a 23-year long career in the industry, will be replaced by Bill Sibold whose tenure begins on July 1. Having started his career as a cardiologist, Meeker took over in 2011 as head of Sanofi Genzyme following the departure of Henri Termeer, the then chief executive officer of Genzyme. This was just after Genzyme had been acquired by Sanofi.
Greener pastures
Shortly after announcing his planned departure Meeker was appointed to chair the board of Rhythm, a biopharmaceutical firm focused on the development of peptide therapeutics aimed at rare genetic deficiencies which cause metabolic disorders that are life-threatening.
Yet another high-ranking executive who had left Sanofi Genzyme is Yamo Deniz who had been the global medical affairs head of the Sanofi unit. Debiz left to become the chief medical officer of Flexion Therapeutics.
On Wednesday shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals fell by 0.09% to close the day at $115.84.
