Bristol-Myers Squibb is on the lookout for a new CFO. Jean-Marc Huet (photo), now EVP and chief financial officer, will leave the company at year's end, to be replaced on an interim basis by Charles Bancroft, most recently VP of Finance for Bristol's global biopharma business.
Huet wants to go home to Europe, the company said in a statement. "[W]e wish him every success," CEO Jim Cornelius said, citing Huet's work in "solidifying" the company's balance sheet and his focus on boosting its cash position to "nearly $10 billion." Cornelius also praised his interim replacement: "Charlie has a wide range of technical and operational finance experiences, including strong financial stewardship, business partnering and leadership capabilities which will serve him well in his new role," said Cornelius.
Over the last few years, Big Pharma has seen something of a changing of the guard in its CFO offices. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sanofi-Aventis are among those that have brought in new CFO talent from outside the industry.
Will Bristol will choose to do the same thing? Well, the company has been steadfastly whittling away at "non-core" businesses, most recently with its spinoff of nutritional subsidiary Mead-Johnson. That could mean Bristol will be looking for a biopharma expert to take the CFO mantle. But we'll have to wait and see.
- see the BMS release