There's nothing like a surprise CEO announcement to get the media excited. Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella's (photo [1]) confession that he'd be handing off his CEO responsibilities to pharma head Joe Jimenez (photo [2]) really has people talking. For your reading pleasure, we rounded up some of the more interesting takes on a.) Vasella's tenure, b.) Jimenez' personality and background, and c.) Novartis present and future.
Novartis' 54 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit beat forecasts by 20 percent. But growth concerns remain: Novartis faces price cuts in the U.S., Japan and Turkey, and generic competition on key drug Diovan. Question marks remain over its pipeline. Jimenez' priority should be cost-cutting, the WSJ states. What's your opinion of Novartis' choice to succeed Vasella as CEO? How do you think Jimenez and Vasella will share power? Let us know what you think.
- read the WSJ article [8]
- find more [9] from The Source at WSJ
Related Articles:
Novartis chief steps aside for Jimenez [10]
Big Pharma execs top highest-paid Swiss list [11]
Vasella talks trends in interview [12]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/pages/novartis-ceo-daniel-vasella
[2] http://www.fiercepharma.com/pages/novartis-ceo-joe-jimenez
[3] http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/health/article7003784.ece
[4] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aDQ1shPtMgYM
[5] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a9844360-0a98-11df-b35f-00144feabdc0.html
[6] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c39af5fc-0aa5-11df-b35f-00144feabdc0.html
[7] http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/01/26/new-novartis-ceo-cafepharma-reader-former-heinz-exec/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Health+Blog%29&mod=smallbusiness
[8] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703906204575027083891374688.html
[9] http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/01/26/vasellas-impeccable-timing/
[10] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/novartis-chief-steps-aside-jimenez/2010-01-26
[11] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/big-pharma-execs-top-highest-paid-swiss-list/2009-11-12
[12] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/vasella-talks-trends-interview/2009-09-17