Sanofi Pasteur has announced the retirement of Damian Braga, president of Sanofi Pasteur U.S. and senior vice president of commercial operations, who spent 27 years with the company.

Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccines division of Sanofi.

“I have taken great pride in the significant and continued evolution of our Sanofi Pasteur organization, and the impact of our products in protecting and saving millions of lives around the world,” said Braga. “I entered the company with eyes wide open—ready to learn and grow. Based on hard work, strong mentors, and being at the right place at the right time, my career expanded in ways I never thought possible, and I ultimately realized opportunities to evoke change in ways I never thought possible.”

Braga joined the company as a financial analyst in 1988. His goal-oriented mindset, natural leadership abilities and approachable management style enabled him to move quickly through a range of senior-level positions, becoming U.S. CFO in 1996, president of the U.S. in 2002 and head of the Americas organization in 2007.

Following his appointment as president of the U.S. business unit in January 2002, revenues increased an average of 18% each year. During the same period, the company’s U.S. workforce nearly tripled and the site in Swiftwater, Pa., more than doubled in acreage. In addition, the company successfully launched a new pediatric combination vaccine, an adolescent and adult booster vaccine to protect against pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria; a new meningococcal vaccine; and influenza vaccine formulations intended specifically for pediatric and elderly populations. Those and other new product launches under his leadership resulted in $10 billion in cumulative additional sales in the Americas business unit.

In 2009, under Braga’s leadership, Sanofi Pasteur played a significant role in responding to the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. That goal was achieved by working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Pan American Health Organization and government officials in Mexico and Brazil to provide 164 million doses of H1N1 to the U.S. and Latin America.

In his most recent role as senior vice president of commercial operations, Braga led the development and implementation of Sanofi Pasteur’s commercial strategy to ensure sustainable and profitable growth through business units, countries and support functions.