Novartis announces departures of three execs

George Gunn, Brian McNamara and Andrin Oswald

Three senior executives at Novartis are to leave the company in the wake of multibillion dollar deals the company agreed with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Lilly earlier this year that effectively make their roles redundant.

George Gunn, head of Novartis animal health; Brian McNamara, head of Novartis OTC; and Andrin Oswald, head of Novartis vaccines, will all leave the Switzerland-based company once the transactions are completed in the first half of 2015.

The deals, which were agreed in April, will see Novartis acquire GSK's oncology business, with its vaccines division going in the other direction. GSK and Novartis also intend to combine their consumer health businesses, while a separate deal will see Lilly acquire Novartis' animal health division for $5.4bn.

Gunn, who joined Novartis in 2003 as head of animal health in North America, will retire once the deal with Lilly is complete. Oswald – who was also chairman of the board of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development - will also leave the company completely, with Novartis stating he intends to “pursue other opportunities”.

As for McNamara – a ten-year veteran of Novartis OTC - he will move to GSK where he will become head of Americas and Europe for the combined consumer health businesses once the deal is finalised. He will report to GSK's president of consumer healthcare.