Viehbacher up on Boston, emerging markets, down on corporate innovation

Sanofi ($SNY) CEO Chris Viehbacher (photo) managed to parlay one personal appearance into a half-dozen different headlines. Development strategies? Check. M&A interest? Check. Job creation? Check. And so on. Here's a roundup.

-- The French drugmaker is again eyeing deals in emerging markets. After wrapping up the $20 billion purchase of Genzyme, Viehbacher would like to "continue to acquire" in fast-growing countries, because Sanofi has "a lot more advantage" in that area, Reuters reports. Pfizer's animal health business? Too big. "I'm going to be looking at things that are smaller," he said. Biogen Idec? "I'm not going to make any comment on a specific target, but that one surprises me." Report | Post

-- Boston can look for new jobs from Sanofi, Viehbacher told the Chief Executives Club at Boston College. And it won't just be the Genzyme unit that grows, but in R&D outside Genzyme's specialty areas, plus at local companies partnered with or funded by Sanofi, he said. This all comes after merger-related layoffs at Genzyme, of course. Story

-- Did Viehbacher forget to mention that Boston and Cambridge are "the most fertile environment in the world" for life sciences research and startups? Nope. Or that Sanofi's operations there can engage in "more collaborative-type investments" in R&D, experiment with new investment models for research, and support startups that might otherwise lack cash, e.g., its new investment in Warp Drive Bio. Report | More

-- Nor did he forget to expound on his latest theme about ivory-tower corporate science and stultifying corporate thought. "Big companies, and not just Big Pharma ... are not any good at doing innovation," he said (as quoted by The Atlantic). "There has to be some element of disruptive thinking to have innovation and I can tell you that big companies do everything to avoid any disruptive thinking in their companies." Report