Pharma Leadership Changes Continue

In the latest leadership changes among big pharma firms, both Sanofi-Aventis and Merck KGaA have unveiled new appointments to their executive suites.

As of Jan. 1, 2011, former National Institutes of Health director Elias A. Zerhouni will take over for Marc Cluzel as head of R&D at Sanofi. Zerhouni has served as a scientific adviser to Sanofi for nearly two years, during which he played a prominent role in reshaping the company’s approach to R&D, according to CEO Christopher A. Viehbacher.

The French firm’s R&D effort has undergone a major overhaul. Once organized around therapeutic areas, research groups are now focused on mechanisms of disease. In 2009, the company trimmed a number of drug and vaccine candidates from its pipeline, and a year later, it made significant cuts to R&D staff as part of a new focus on external partnerships. In the past, Sanofi says, 90% of research was done inside its own labs; today, that figure is just 50%.

In a separate move, Germany’s Merck KGaA has named a new head of pharmaceuticals. Stefan Osch­mann will replace Elmar Schnee as head of the firm’s consumer health division and of Merck Serono, its innovative drug arm. Oschmann is a 20-year veteran of U.S.-based rival Merck & Co., most recently serving as president of emerging markets.

The moves at Sanofi and Merck KGaA come just weeks after new CEO appointments at both Pfizer and Merck & Co. Ian C. Read, former head of Pfizer’s biopharmaceutical operations, took over as CEO after Jeffrey B. Kindler’s abrupt departure earlier this month. And longtime Merck executive Kenneth C. Frazier will succeed Richard T. Clark as CEO starting in January.

At Pfizer, the management musical chairs continue. George A. Lorch was appointed chairman of the board, and Read is expanding the duties of other managers.

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s head of manufacturing, Natale S. Ricciardi, is leaving the company in early 2011 for personal reasons, and Steve Yang, Pfizer’s vice president of Asian R&D, has jumped to AstraZeneca. Yang is the second key Pfizer executive to leave for AstraZeneca; in May, Pfizer’s R&D head Martin Mackay left for the same position at the British firm.