AstraZeneca announces structural changes, hires Jose Baselga

AstraZeneca announced a number of organisational changes on Monday, which it said would support its “continued scientific innovation” and commercial success in the main therapy areas as it entered a new phase in its strategic development.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said that among the changes would be the arrival of “world-renowned” oncology scientist, José Baselga, as well as the creation of therapy area-focused research and development units.

Those units would be responsible for discovery through to late-stage development - one for biopharmaceuticals in cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM), and respiratory, and one for oncology, with dynamic resource allocation across the firm’s pipeline.

It would also create what it called “mirrored commercial units” - one for biopharmaceuticals and one for oncology.

The creation of the biopharmaceuticals commercial unit would align product strategy and commercial delivery across CVRM and respiratory, the board said.

It explained that the research and development units and the commercial units would each be represented on the senior executive team of AstraZeneca, and report to chief executive officer Pascal Soriot.

The units would also share common basic biology and science platforms, as well as product supply, manufacturing and information technology infrastructure to improve efficiency.

Those resources would continue to be allocated on a company-wide basis, according to the overall therapy area considerations and strategy.

AstraZeneca said the research and development unit for biopharmaceuticals would be led by Mene Pangalos, who was previously responsible for the firm’s innovative medicines and early development biotech unit.

The research and development unit for oncology would be led by Dr Baselga, which the company described as a “foremost oncology leader” with vast experience in the development of innovative cancer therapies, who was joining the company on Monday.

He was most recently physician-in-chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Prior to that, he was chief of the division of hematology and oncology and associate director at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The commercial unit for biopharmaceuticals would be led by Ruud Dobber, who was most recently responsible for AstraZeneca’s commercial operations in North America.

It said the commercial unit for biopharmaceuticals would mirror the firm’s existing commercial unit for oncology, which continued to be led by Dave Fredrickson.

The International commercial organisation remained under current leadership.

“We are entering what we expect will be a period of sustained growth for years to come, which is why we have decided to more closely align our research and development and commercial operations,” said Pascal Soriot.

“This new structure will support growth and sharpen the focus on our main therapy areas, speeding up decisions and making us more productive in our mission to bring innovative medicines to patients.

“In line with these changes, I am delighted to welcome José to AstraZeneca.”

Soirot said his research and clinical achievements had led to the development of several innovative medicines, adding that he was an “international thought leader” in cancer care and clinical research.

“José's expertise adds further scientific and leadership excellence to our already strong team and will help us to continue building a world-class research and development unit for oncology.”

José Baselga himself said that, after more than three decades helping to develop medicines in the area, it was a “true privilege” to have the opportunity to work with the oncology expertise at AstraZeneca.

“Bringing the discovery through to late-stage development chain into one unit will make the process more agile and accelerate our work to bring transformative medicines to patients,” Dr Baselga added.

“This really is a dream job.”