CureVac N.V announced that after more than 10 years as a member of the CureVac management board and three years as CEO, Dr. Franz Haas will step down as CEO, effective March 31, 2023. Dr. Alexander Zehnder will succeed Dr. Haas, joining from Sanofi on April 1, 2023. Dr. Alexander Zehnder earned his degree as a Medical Doctor from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and completed an MBA at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He has held roles of increasing complexity and responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years, across multiple business units and functional areas in Europe, the United States and Japan. Having worked in different senior executive positions at Roche and Sanofi, Alexander has a proven track record in building pipelines, developing strategies, shaping organizations, and delivering results. Alexander is currently Global Head of Oncology at Sanofi and previously held country leadership positions at both headquarter and country level.

At Roche/Genentech, Alexander served as Vice President, Global Product Strategy and Global Franchise Head Avastin, the company's blockbuster oncology drug.