Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez will step down on February 1 and hand over to drug development chief Vas Narasimhan to decide the fate of $50 billion in assets and make good on a pledge to return the Swiss company to sales growth.
Jimenez, who will have been at the helm for eight years when he retires, has hived off animal health, vaccines and over-the-counter drugs businesses at Novartis to focus on generally more profitable prescription medicines, particularly in cancer.
But sales have been hit as top-selling drugs such as blood cancer treatment Gleevec have lost patent protection, while eye business Alcon has lagged expectations and generics arm Sandoz has faced intense pressure on prices in the United States.
Novartis got a boost last week, when the United States approved its $475,000-per-patient Kymriah treatment for young people with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of a series of new drugs it expects to revive sales growth starting next year.
Jimenez, 57, said on Monday now was a good time to move on. "I really believe a leader has to be in place at the beginning of that growth phase to see it through," he told reporters on a call. "And that wouldn't be me, given that I'm already eight years into my tenure."
Narasimhan, 41, is among a new generation of youthful leaders at Novartis, including head researcher Jay Bradner at the Novartis Institutes For Biomedical Research.
Together, they have sought to improve the company's way of moving drugs from the laboratory into commercial products, something they acknowledge has not always worked efficiently. "That's going to continue to be the focus of the company: To translate that innovation into commercial success," said Narasimhan, a US citizen.