Novartis Announces New Head of Pharmaceuticals Business Unit

Novartis announced on June 7, 2019 that Marie-France Tschudin, current president of Novartis’ Advanced Accelerator Applications, has been appointed as president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. She will report to Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan and join the executive committee immediately. Tschudin succeeds Paul Hudson, who, according to Reuters, is leaving Novartis to be CEO at Sanofi effective Sept. 1, 2019.

"I am pleased that Marie-France Tschudin is ready to take over from Paul Hudson to further grow the business and lead the expected upcoming launches of our transformative medicines,” said Narasimhan in a company press release. “Marie-France has a strong record of accomplishments in driving commercial excellence and a culture of inclusiveness and integrity founded on her exemplary commitment to patients and customers. She has always been highly respected by people working with her and will bring new and diverse perspectives to our executive leadership team. I would like to thank Paul for his exceptional leadership in positioning our pharmaceuticals business for strong future growth. He also established a new culture of commercial excellence, integrity and nurtured a strong, diverse talent pool."

Tschudin joined Novartis in January 2017 and has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals and biotech industry. As a member of the Novartis Pharmaceuticals executive committee and head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Region Europe, Novartis reports that Tschudin grew the largest regional business within Novartis worldwide, therapeutic areas, and products to over $8 billion in sales by the end of 2018. Before joining Novartis, Tschudin spent 10 years at Celgene in a variety of leadership and general management positions and led Celgene’s hematology-oncology business for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from 2014 to 2016.

"I'm honored and excited to be given the opportunity to lead and further develop one of the greatest businesses in our industry,” said Tschudin in the release. “I would like to thank Paul for his leadership and his focus on people and I wish him continued success going forward. I'm excited to deliver my part in reimagining medicine for as many people as possible together with our associates at Novartis."

Sources: Novartis, Reuters