Sanofi creates chief patient officer position

PARIS — Sanofi on Monday named Anne Beal to the newly created position of chief patient officer. 

"The appointment of a chief patient officer at Sanofi, the first for a top 10 biopharmaceutical company, shows our commitment to go further in meeting the needs of patients," stated Pascale Witz, EVP global divisions and strategic development at Sanofi. "Interactions with patients are a source of strength for the company, and Dr. Beal’s appointment will help ensure the patient perspective advances our approach to meeting the unmet needs of patients."

Beal’s responsibility will be to further elevate the perspective of the patient within Sanofi so the company’s future healthcare offerings can better incorporate the priorities and needs of patients and caregivers in a variety of Sanofi activities, ranging from early stage R&D through to onmarket availability of novel healthcare solutions.

Beal is a pediatrician and public health specialist. She joins Sanofi from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, an institute focused on patient-centered outcomes research. As PCORI’s deputy executive director, and its first chief officer for engagement, she was charged with ensuring that the voices and priorities of patients and other stakeholders were reflected in the Institute’s research portfolio. 

Prior to her tenure with PCORI, Beal was president of the Aetna Foundation, an independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna. As president, she led the Foundation’s work on improving health care in the United States, particularly for vulnerable patient groups. 

Beal holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College and an M.P.H. from Columbia University.