Pfizer CEO unexpectedly retires

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Dec 7 2010

Reuters: Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler Retires, Replaced By Read
Jeffrey Kindler, 55, is being replaced by the global head of pharmaceuticals, Ian Read, who is 57, Pfizer said. In a statement issued by the company late on Sunday, Kindler said: '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' (Krauskopf and Pierson, 12/6).

Bloomberg: Pfizer Names Ian Read CEO After Kindler Steps Down
Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, named Ian C. Read chief executive officer as the company prepares to face generic competition to its top-selling cholesterol treatment Lipitor. ... Kindler, 55, was named CEO on July 28, 2006. Since then, the shares have fallen 35 percent (Randall and Pettypiece, 12/6).

The Associated Press: Pfizer CEO Kindler, 55, Unexpectedly Replaced
As the chairman of the trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Kindler was instrumental in lining up drugmaker support for this year's health care overhaul in a deal that ultimately will bring those companies more customers and sales. The industry had helped defeat the Clinton adminstration's attempt to reform health care in 1994 (Johnson, 12/6).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.