New Sanofi CEO to unveil five-year plan in November - unions

By Noelle Mennella PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt has told unions he will present a five-year strategic plan in November after the French company's third-quarter results, labour representatives said. Brandicourt said shortly after taking the helm of the drugs company in April that he was launching a strategic review to be completed in the fourth quarter. His plan will be closely watched by both staff and investors, following the sacking last October of previous CEO Chris Viehbacher, who clashed with the board. In his first formal gathering with unions on Thursday, Brandicourt said the cost of operating Sanofi's industrial sites was weighing on the company's gross profit margin, according to a union official who was at the meeting and asked not to be named. Sanofi declined to comment. Unions have expressed concerns over production sites and research spending after the loss of several hundred jobs due to restructuring. Union officials said they had also requested the opening of negotiations on salary increases after a two-year pay freeze. Remuneration has been a sensitive issue at Sanofi after a shareholder row over a joining bonus for Brandicourt, as well as severance payments for his predecessor. For shareholders, the focus will be on how Brandicourt plans to ensure growth at a time of big challenges to its core diabetes business and rapid changes in the wider healthcare sector, which has seen more than $250 billion of deals this year. The commercial performance of Sanofi's top-selling insulin drug Lantus is a worry, with competitive pressures mounting and uncertainty over how well the follow-on product Toujeo will fare. More generally, investors want to see what sort of power the new CEO will really wield, given Viehbacher's past disputes with the board. Viehbacher left after a disagreement over his management style, according to Sanofi. Company insiders said some board members saw his approach as too authoritarian and a decision to explore selling mature drugs had ruffled feathers, since it put French jobs at risk. Brandicourt, a Paris-educated doctor who previously headed Bayer's healthcare arm, needs to take such sensitivities into account while also retaining the group's global focus. Sanofi is a leading player in emerging markets and is also heavily reliant on the U.S. market, which remains the biggest and most profitable in the world for pharmaceutical companies. It has high hopes for a new type of cholesterol-lowering drug called Praluent, developed with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals , which was recommended for approval by a U.S. advisory panel this month. Amgen has a similar drug nearing the market. (Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler; Writing by Tim Hepher; Editing by David Holmes)