Malika Haimeur was born in
Le Rove, in the
Bouches du Rhône region of France. She passed a scientific baccalaureate, then a license and a master 's degree in chemistry. She continued her studies at the Institute of Petrochemistry and Industrial Organic Synthesis, now the
École Centrale de Marseille, where she received her engineering degree in 1984. In 1984, she began her career working in a chemical process development laboratory of the
Rhône-Poulenc group in
Décines. After a career in research and development within the Rhône Poulenc group, which became Aventis and then
Sanofi Aventis, from 2007 she managed the production sites of
Mourenx and
Sisteron of the pharmaceutical group Sanofi. The Sisteron site is one of the largest in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry. In 2010, this site produced approximately 750 to 800 tons per year of about 15 active ingredients for medicines. Haimeur was responsible for nearly a thousand people, and managed, among other things, purchasing, shipping and security of the site for the manufacturing the active ingredients for drugs such as
Clopidogrel, which is sold as Plavix. In 2011, she was promoted to vice-president of the research and development sector of the Sanofi group. She held that position until 2015. As of June 2017, she has been President of the board of directors of the National School of Chemistry of
Rennes. In 2018, she became an independent director of the
Savencia dairy company. == Awards and distinctions ==