Novartis appoints new heads at Alcon, Sandoz
pharmafile | April 9, 2014 | Appointment | Business Services, Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Alcon, Novartis, Sandoz
Novartis has appointed Jeff George (pictured) as division head of its eye business Alcon and Richard Francis, also as a division head, at its generics and biosimilar unit Sandoz.
George’s new role will become effective 1 May and he succeeds Kevin Buehler, who is retiring from the company after a 30-year career at Alcon.
As part of the planned transition, Buehler will provide management and strategic support on the Alcon business.
Francis has been appointed as the new leader of Sandoz, succeeding George and Novartis from Biogen Idec, where he has held roles of increasing responsibility across several therapeutic areas in both Europe and the US over his 13-year career with the company.
Joseph Jimenez, chief executive of Novartis, says: “The appointments of Jeff George as the new division head of Alcon and of Richard Francis as new division head of Sandoz, place two strong leaders at the helm of two leading Novartis businesses.
“These new leaders will set the direction for the next phase of growth for our eye care and generics businesses, two of our core growth engines. Both Jeff and Richard have the vision and expertise to strengthen our market leading positions.”
Since joining Novartis in January 2007, George has held leadership positions of increasing importance in the vaccines and diagnostics division and the pharmaceuticals division, becoming division head of Sandoz in December 2008.
At Sandoz, George helped grow the unit’s sales from $7.5 billion in 2009 to $9.2 billion in 2013.
He holds an MBA from Harvard University, an MA from Johns Hopkins, and a BA from Carleton College.
Francis was most recently served as Biogen Idec’s senior VP of US commercial operations; he previously held leadership roles across commercial and sales in Sanofi and Wyeth.
A British citizen, Francis graduated from the UK’s Manchester Metropolitan University.
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