Novartis appoints new comms chief

Swiss pharma company Novarits has named Michael Willi as its new global head of communications, effective June 1.

He replaces Michele Galen who had been in the role for two years. According to PRWeek, Galen has chosen to return to the US for family reasons.

Willi was most recently chief communications officer at the Swiss banking firm UBS, spending 15 years at the company. He left in April 2013 amid struggles among senior management related to a company restructure following major losses.

Since leaving UBS, Willi has worked as an independent consultant on communications and corporate reputation.

His appointment at Novartis marks his first role in the life sciences sector. Among his most pressing concerns will be handing the communications aspects of Novartis' recent deal to acquire the oncology portfolio of GSK and to sell its vaccines portfolio.