More C-level turnover in store for pharma

You've all been watching the changing of the C-level guard in pharma over the past few years. New CFOs, new CEOs ... sometimes it seems as if we get a new top Big Pharma executive every other month.

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But within the last couple of years GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis have gotten new CEOs. And Novartis just got a new chief. In CFO-land over the past three years, Pfizer, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Merck and Sanofi have tapped new people. Mylan's CFO made a quick exit last fall. And Bristol-Myers Squibb is on the hunt for a new one now.

And with some pharma CEOs approaching retirement age now, it's a safe bet to assume that the guard-changing will continue, the Wall Street Journal points out. Merck CEO Dick Clark has said he'll announce a successor this year; many speculate that ex-general counsel and current president of human health Kenneth Frazier is first in line. And although Bristol chief Jim Cornelius hasn't indicated anything yet, he's 66, and observers say they wouldn't be surprised if he publicly tapped a successor soon enough.

- read the WSJ story

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