In significant executive reshuffling, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) have both announced changes to their top leadership teams, particularly impacting their global research and development divisions.
Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten has stepped down from his role as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and President of Pfizer Research & Development after a tenure of 15 years with the company. His retirement, which has been in the planning stages for some time, will see Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla collaborate with Dolsten to find a suitable successor in the coming months.
Dr. Dolsten’s journey with Pfizer began with the Wyeth acquisition in 2009, where he was appointed President of Worldwide Research and Development. Throughout his career at Pfizer, he has overseen more than 35 drug and vaccine approvals, with over half of these being new molecular entities. Before joining Pfizer via Wyeth, Dr. Dolsten held R&D leadership roles at Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca.
In parallel, at AbbVie, Dr. Thomas J. Hudson is relinquishing his position as CSO, with Dr. Roopal Thakkar stepping in to fill the role. This transition is an internal promotion, as Thakkar is currently AbbVie’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for global therapeutics. In his new capacity, Thakkar will oversee AbbVie’s global R&D workforce of 14,000 employees and manage six major R&D centers of excellence worldwide. Thakkar, a medical doctor by training, has been with AbbVie since 2003, rising through the ranks to become vice-president of global regulatory affairs and R&D quality assurance in 2019, and CMO in 2022. Hudson has served AbbVie since 2016.- Flcube.com
