March saw significant changes within leadership roles across the industry, with more than one unexpected resignation.
Both the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration had to contend with finding appointees for significant roles – with one offering continuity and the other requiring a quick leadership turnover.
In the industry itself, Novartis saw a shock departure, as it looks to undertake a transformation of a key subsidiary.
March saw significant changes within leadership roles across the industry, with more than one unexpected resignation.
Both the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration had to contend with finding appointees for significant roles – with one offering continuity and the other requiring a quick leadership turnover.
In the industry itself, Novartis saw a shock departure, as it looks to undertake a transformation of a key subsidiary.
After the surprise resignation of Scott Gottlieb, the question arose as to who would replace him as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the answer, at least temporarily, is Norman “Ned” Sharpless.
Sharpless moves across from his role as the head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which he has held from June 10, 2017, and will maintain the position, as acting commissioner, until a permanent successor to Gottlieb is appointed.
Gottlieb responded favourably to the news:
Sharpless has direct experience working within the pharma industry, after being involved in the development of G1 Therapeutics and Sapere Bio.
Preceding his role as head of the NCI, he was director of University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center for four years, from 2013.
With Richard Francis stepping down from his position as CEO of Sandoz, Francesco Balestrieri has been appointed the interim CEO of the business.
Amid a ‘multi-year transformation program’ for the business, the company noted that Francis decided he could not stay to oversee the changes due to personal reasons. Francis had been in the role for five years, after having previously worked as SVP of Biogen’s US commercial business, and left the role at the end of March.
Balestrieri moves into the role, on an ad-interim basis, after having been region head for Europe at the Sandoz business. In total, he has worked at Novartis for 25 years – during which time he has worked on both the consumer health care side of the business, since divested to GSK, and the pharma side.
CEO of Novartis, Vas Narasimhan, said: "I would like to thank Balestrieri for stepping up to take on this role. His leadership approach and business experience will be of great importance as we continue the Sandoz transformation."
Boehringer Ingelheim promotes Mehdi Shahidi to take on the position of chief medical officer, after 14 years with the company. Shahidi was placed in the role on March 1 and succeeds Thor Voigt, who retires from the role and company at the end of April, after 27 years.
“[Voigt] will have a great successor in Dr Shahidi who takes over this important role as chief medical officer with a well-deserved, excellent reputation inside and outside our company,” said Allan Hillgrove, member of the board of managing directors.
Shahidi is a trained clinical oncologist and early in his career was a senior clinical research fellow at the Institute of Cancer Research. From there, he moved into the pharmaceutical industry through his role at PRA Health Sciences, a contract research organisation.
Shahidi previously worked at the Novartis Oncology unit for a year before moving to Boehringer, where he has worked in various positions over the last 14 years. Prior to becoming CMO, he was global head of oncology for Boehringer.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) re-elected Christa Wirthumer-Hoche as its chair for the next three years. The term will be Wirthumer-Hoche’s second and final term, as the EMA only allows for the board to serve two terms.
Wirthumer-Hoche is currently also head of the Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, a role she has held for over five years. Additionally, she is co-chair of the European Union Network Training Centre and chair of the EMA’s Active Substance Master File Working Group.
Regarding her re-appointment, Wirthumer-Hoche said, “As chair of the Board I will strive to maintain the strong partnership between EMA, Member States and the Commission to guarantee that EMA continues to protect public and animal health in Europe. This is essential if we are to deal effectively with the major challenges we will face in the coming years.”
One of the major challenges the agency faces is the transition to its new home in Amsterdam, which officially took place last month.
In response to activist investment pressure from Appaloosa and, subsequently, Chevedden, Allergan announced that it would look to separate the role of CEO and chairman – currently held by one individual, Brent Saunders.
The pressure comes as Allergan’s share price dipped from highs of approximately $190 (€169), in October 2018, to $146 (€130) at present. The investment groups are calling for a separate chairman to provide greater decision-making oversight.
Allergan announced in a SEC filing that it would make the two roles independent, but only during ‘the next leadership transition’.
The company’s board stated that this “demonstrat[es] the continued commitment…to strong governance practices and responsiveness to ongoing shareholder feedback.”
This was not enough to appease the activist investors, with Chevedden joining Appaloosa in calling for immediate separation of the roles.
