Generics giant Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:TEVA) has named Richard Francis, the CEO of gene therapy company Purespring Therapeutics, as its leader. Purespring Therapeutics is one of the first adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy companies focused on kidney disease.
Francis is also the CEO of the cardiotherapy-focused firm Forcefield Therapeutics, and an operating partner for Syncona Investment Management Ltd.
Teva Pharmaceuticals’s current chief executive Kåre Schultz will retire on December 31, 2022.
Richard Francis
Francis was the division head and CEO of Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis (NYSE:NVS), from 2014 to 2019. Before that, he worked at Biogen (Nasdaq:BIIB) for more than 12 years, eventually becoming the president and senior vice president of Biogen, U.S. At Biogen, he was responsible for the commercialization of the multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) in 2013. Sa…