Martin Mackay to head AstraZe

RNS Number : 5712M

AstraZeneca PLC

26 May 2010

 



MARTIN MACKAY TO LEAD ASTRAZENECA'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION

AstraZeneca today announced the appointment of Martin Mackay to the newly-created position of President of R&D. Martin will lead the company's research and development organisation and will have overall accountability for delivering new products - small molecules and biologics - from AstraZeneca's pipeline. He will start his new role on 1 July 2010 and will be based at the company's headquarters in London.

Martin Mackay joins AstraZeneca from Pfizer where he heads up PharmaTherapeutics Research & Development and is a member of the Pfizer Executive Leadership Team. He leads a global organisation tasked with advancing a portfolio of investigational medicines across a range of disease areas. Prior to joining Pfizer in 1995, he held several discovery and development roles culminating with his appointment as Head of Molecular and Cell Biology, CNS Research at Ciba-Geigy.

Born in Scotland, Martin earned a first class honours degree in Microbiology at Heriot-Watt University and a PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Edinburgh.

"Martin has impeccable scientific and leadership credentials combined with extensive experience of the pharmaceutical industry. I am delighted he is joining us," said David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca. "We have a clear and unambiguous commitment to creating value through innovative biopharmaceuticals with research and development at the heart of our strategy. Martin's appointment to this new role will provide a single point of senior accountability as we continue to make the changes necessary to improve the productivity and efficiency of our research and development organisation."

Martin will report to David Brennan and will be a member of AstraZeneca's Senior Executive Team.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines.  As a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease medicines, AstraZeneca generated global revenues of US $32.8 billion in 2009.  For more information please visit: www.astrazeneca.com

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26 May 2010

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