Sanofi-Aventis’s new CEO, Christopher Viehbacher, made his debut today to present the company’s 2008 earnings, and speculation yesterday was that the executive – fresh from his former position at GlaxoSmithKline – would come in thundering for renewed cost cutting efforts and an overhaul of the company’s R&D system.

Both topics came up during his presentation this morning, but Viehbacher, who took the helm in December, declined to give details. He spent much of the presentation on the defensive: Sanofi’s stock fell 28% last year, making it the worst performer among Europe’s top pharma companies. Meanwhile, Sanofi employees have largely been spared from the painful cuts undertaken by other pharma companies to reduce costs.

Viehbacher acknowledged criticisms that Sanofi has an overstuffed, unfocused drug pipeline, and said the company would be taking a hard look at its research programs with the aid of its new science adviser, former NIH chief Elias Zerhouni. Viehbacher predicted cuts to internal R&D and increased acquisitions of small- to mid-sized biotech companies. And he said he’s shying away from megamergers with other large firms, which could put to rest periodic rumours that Sanofi may purchase fellow pharmaceutical company, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb. (For an example, check out this BNET Pharma article.)

When pushed to give numbers and dates for the company’s cost cutting plans, Viehbacher shot back, “Hey, look guys I’ve been at this job for 10 weeks. Give me a little room here.” He went on to elaborate that R&D cuts are not undertaken lightly. Sacrificing an internal R&D program to make room for acquisition of a new biotechnology company feels like turning against his own children, he said. “I love my children better than my nieces and nephews. It’s a fact of life,” he said. “You can never get far from human emotion, and that’s what makes R&D a tricky exercise.”