Shire has announced that chairman Matthew Emmens will step down in April to be replaced by board member Susan Kilsby.
Emmens has been with Ireland-based pharma firm Shire since 2003, joining as chief executive before being appointed chairman in 2008.
During that time Shire has grown substantially, although has struggled in recent years with generic competition for big-selling attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Adderall XR and plans to downsize in certain areas.
Kilsby, who takes over as chair on April 29, 2014, will have her work cut out as Shire looks to move its focus to the growing rare disease market, boosted by the recent purchase of Virophama and an alliance agreed last year with Santaris.
She joined the Shire board as a non-executive director in September 2011 and has been chair of the audit, compliance and risk committee since May 2013.
Prior to joining the company, Kilsby developed extensive experience in the financial sector, including serving as senior adviser at Credit Suisse.
Her other board memberships include director positions at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, BBA Aviation and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company.