Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Sept. 4 named Vasant Narasimhan as its chief executive officer. This makes him the first Indian-origin person to hold the post in a large pharmaceutical multinational.
A doctor from Harvard Medical School, 41-year-old Narasimhan is a second generation immigrant to the United States. His parents moved there from Tamil Nadu in the 1970s. Since 2005, he has worked with Novartis in various leadership roles in commercial, drug development and strategy.
Narasimhan is currently the global head (drug development) and chief medical officer of the company. He became a member of the executive committee of the company in January 2017. Before joining Novartis, he worked at McKinsey & Co as a consultant. He is also an elected member of the US National Academy of Medicine.
In 2016, Novartis reported revenues of $48.5 billion.
The current CEO, Joseph Jimenez, will step down in 2018 after 8 years of service, according to a statement released by Novartis. Narasimhan will take over on Feb. 1, 2018.
Novartis board of directors chairman Joerg Reinhardt said of the development: “We anticipate a smooth transition as Joe built a strong leadership team and mentored his successor. Novartis will be well positioned to continue its momentum.”
Credit: Novartis Official/ Twitter
He added: “Vas (Vasant Narasimhan) is deeply anchored in medical science, has significant experience in managing the interfaces between research and development and commercial units and has strong business acumen with a track record of outstanding achievements.”
Jimenez believes this is the right moment to hand the leadership reins of the company to Narasimhan — from a professional and a personal perspective.
Said Narasimhan in a statement: “We will continue our legacy of bringing leading innovation to patients around the world. With our recent launches, our strong pipeline, broad capabilities, world-class leadership team, and committed people, I am very confident about our future.”
The development was hailed across the industry in India. “The appointment is extremely significant and is indicative of the growing stature of life-sciences professionals from India,” Utkarsh Palnitkar, national head (life-science practice) of KPMG India, was quoted as saying by Business Standard.
Indians have made a mark in leadership roles in other big pharmaceutical companies too. Udit Batra is on executive board of German drugmaker Merck while Indian-origin British citizen Ameet Nathwani is the executive vice president of medical affairs at Sanofi.