Pfizer's chief executive has stepped down without warning, acknowledging the personal toll involved in steering the world's largest drugmaker through a multibillion dollar merger.
The departure of Jeffrey Kindler, 55, comes more than a year after Pfizer completed the signature move of his tenure - the $67 billion acquisition of rival Wyeth. But he leaves before the company confronts the US patent expiration of its top-selling Lipitor cholesterol medicine expected in November.
Kindler said he was leaving to 'recharge my batteries' after nearly five years on the job. He is being replaced by the global head of pharmaceuticals, Ian Read, who is 57, Pfizer said last night.
Kindler's departure comes more than a year after Pfizer completed the signature move of his tenure - the $67 billion acquisition of rival Wyeth. But he leaves before the company confronts the US patent expiration of its top-selling Lipitor cholesterol medicine expected in November next year.
'The combination of meeting the requirements of our many stakeholders around the world and the 24/7 nature of my responsibilities, has made this period extremely demanding on me personally,' Kindler said in a statement issued by Pfizer.
Analysts said that Kindler's resignation may be more connected to Pfizer's poor stock price performance, noting that investors have shown far more enthusiasm about Merck & Co's purchase of Schering-Plough.
Indeed, Pfizer's abrupt management change comes in stark contrast with Merck, which said last week that President Ken Frazier would succeed Richard Clark as CEO in a long-telegraphed and expected move.
Kindler, previously the company's general counsel with little drug industry experience, was a surprise choice when he was named to the drugmaker's top job in 2006.
