Sanofi poaches top AstraZeneca scientist

Sanofi revealed it had poached one of AstraZeneca's top scientists on Tuesday, appointing Yong-Jun Liu as its new research head.

The French drugmaker said Liu’s appointment would take effect on 1 April, and he would report to its president of global research and development Elias Zerhouni.

Liu currently headed AstraZeneca’s MedImmune biotechnology division - a post he had occupied since 2014. Before that, he led programmes at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Baylor Research Institute. Liu was also the founding director of the Cancer Immunology Research Institute.

The departure of Liu followed that of AstraZeneca’s former chief medical officer Briggs Morrison last June, and head of respiratory and inflammatory medicines James Ward-Lilley.

AstraZeneca was said to be in a phase of transition, with a number of its more profitable products coming off patent, and the company investing heavily in new drugs - particularly cancer immunotherapy products.

Meanwhile, Sanofi had said it was looking to energise its early-stage pipeline, with Zerhouni saying Liu's experience would be "vital assets" for such a project.