Smith & Nephew's Bohuon seen as strong candidate for top Sanofi job

* Frenchman Bohuon is Smith & Nephew's CEO since 2011

* Track record seen strong at U.S. and French firms

* French nationals seen well-placed to handle unions,politics

By Natalie Huet and Sophie Sassard

PARIS/LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The French boss of Britishartificial knee and hip maker Smith & Nephew, OlivierBohuon, is seen as a strong candidate to head Paris-baseddrugmaker Sanofi, which sacked its CEO last week,industry observers say.

Bohuon, 55, who previously ran the pharmaceuticals businessat U.S. drugmaker Abbott and GlaxoSmithKline's operations in Europe, has steered the British company intofaster-growing areas, such as sports medicine and emergingmarkets since he took over in 2011.

His experience running pharmaceuticals companies in Franceas well makes him suited to run a global drugmaker in a countrywith strong labour laws and a history of politicians demanding asay in its companies' decisions, according to analysts andbankers who have worked with Sanofi.

"There's a strong rationale for Sanofi to appoint him. He'shalfway through the job at Smith & Nephew and whether he wantsto abandon that is a question, but Sanofi, for a Frenchman,would have very strong attractions," said Savvas Neophytou, ananalyst at Panmure Gordon.

The board of France's second-biggest listed company firedViehbacher, its CEO of six years, last Wednesday, blaming hisbrusque management style, miscommunication with board membersand poor execution of the group's strategy.

The French drugmaker had no successor lined up and has hiredexecutive search firm Egon Zehnder to find one, Le Figaronewspaper reported. Egon Zehnder declined to comment.

Bohuon himself declined to comment when asked if he was acontender, after he presented solid results for Smith & Nephewon Thursday. Sanofi also refused to comment.

Sanofi's Chairman Serge Weinberg, who is now the interimCEO, has said the board is looking for candidates mainly outsidethe company and for someone with solid experience in thepharmaceutical industry, regardless of nationality.

But investors believe the predominantly French board mayprefer a French candidate in order to avoid the cultural clashesthat led to the downfall of the German-Canadian Viehbacher.

AstraZeneca's French CEO Pascal Soriot has also beensuggested as a possible successor. But he is seen by analysts asunwilling to abandon AstraZeneca so soon after seeing off a bidfrom Pfizer in May and while the company is winningplaudits for its pipeline of cancer drugs. Soriot also has rootsas much in Australia, where he has family, as in France.

Moreover, the Sanofi job would not necessarily mark a stepup for Soriot. But for Bohuon, moving to a company worth $120billion from one worth $15 billion would be a coup.

Another possible candidate is Bernard Poussot, the formerboss of Wyeth who was also educated in Paris. Leerinkanalyst Seamus Fernandez said in note last week he would be "astrong choice." But Poussot would have to be persuaded out ofretirement, and at 62 he might be deemed too old.

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Bohuon, who studied at the prestigious HEC business schoolin Paris, and who was CEO of French pharmaceutical and cosmeticsfirm Pierre Fabre four years ago, has direct experience of howFrench politics and business intersect.

Many of the CAC-40 index of French blue chip companies owetheir might, at least in part, to state intervention of one sortor another. In this area, Viehbacher had often come across asundiplomatic, as he cut jobs in French labs he said were notproductive enough and tipped the drugmaker's centre of gravitytowards the United States, the world's largest drug market.

Viehbacher's recent relocation to Boston, and the fact hehad considered selling an $8 billion portfolio of matureEuropean drugs largely produced in France without sharing theidea with the board, rankled with directors from the Frenchestablishment.

Bohuon could represent a diplomatic balance, with hisinternational resume offering reassurance to investors concernedthat Sanofi could shift its focus back to France and become moreinsular.

"I think he's done a fantastic job turning Smith & Nephewaround and he's been very well-liked and received by theinvestment community," said one analyst who heard Bohuon's namefloated by several portfolio managers but declined to beidentified because of the topic's sensitivity.

Bohuon's experience in medical equipment could also dovetailwith Sanofi's diabetes business, which accounts for close to afifth of its revenue. Sanofi is looking to develop moreconvenient insulin delivery devices and systems to help patientsbetter monitor blood sugar levels.

Any appointment is unlikely before early 2015, analysts say.Sanofi's chairman has said the board will take the time neededto find "the best possible boss". (Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London, editing byLouise Heavens)