When Richard Saynor was appointed CEO of Sandoz in 2019, he took on the mission to turn the Novartis generics and biosimilars division into the world’s leading and most valued generics company.
Today, these efforts are well on track. Sandoz reaches 500 million patients a year with its broad portfolio of affordable medicines, including biosimilars and generic cancer therapies, and generates annual sales of USD 10 billion. Richard’s efforts were recognized when he was named Leader of the Year in the 2020 Global Generics & Biosimilars Awards.
Richard has a wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including at both innovation-driven companies and generics makers. He previously held regional leadership roles at Sandoz between 2005 and 2010. As head of the global organization, he aims to make Sandoz both a market leader and a thought leader on increasing patients’ access to critical medicines.
“Pioneering access for patients is what drives us at Sandoz – binding us together and giving us a true sense of direction. I’ve worked across the pharmaceutical industry, but my heart has always been in generics. They make a difference for hundreds of millions of people worldwide by driving patient access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.”
Sandoz played a central role in the Novartis response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first company to commit to keeping prices stable for a basket of medicines used to treat coronavirus patients. In addition, Sandoz provided 15 medicines used to treat COVID-19 at zero profit to governments, nongovernmental organizations and other institutional customers in up to 79 low- and middle-income countries.
Richard was behind another important move to improve patient access in July 2020, with the announcement of a joint investment to secure the long-term future of integrated antibiotics manufacturing in Europe. This was the result of intensive efforts by Sandoz to broker an unprecedented cross-sector initiative that will maintain supplies of critical medicines to customers and patients worldwide.
