LONDON — Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson on Wednesday defended his company’s recent moves to abandon future profit guidance and up its investment in its own research programs, arguing that the dramatically negative market response didn’t reflect the potential rewards that could stem from the plan.
“Would I have liked the stock market reaction to be more generous? Of course,” Hudson said at a Financial Times event in London. “But this is a long-term game, and if you’re trying to deliver long-term value, you try not to make too many short-term decisions.”
Sanofi unveiled its R&D plans late last month as it announced its third-quarter performance and said that it was spinning out its consumer health division. As the company said it was going to spend more money on research, it also withdrew earnings outlooks for 2025. Company executives have argued that this was the moment — when Sanofi has a strong pipeline and isn’t facing patent expirations for years — to increase its R&D resources, even at the expense of short-term profits.