GENEVA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Novartis, the multinational Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, on Monday named Harvard University-educated Dr. Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan as its new CEO as of Feb. 1, 2018.
Novartis said in a statement that Joseph Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis, announced he would step down as CEO in 2018, after eight years in position.
Novartis board of directors has appointed Narasimhan, M.D., global head of drug development and chief medical officer, as the new CEO of Novartis.
Dr. Narasimhan, a U.S. citizen living in Basel, is a member of the Novartis executive committee and joined the company in 2005.
Educated at Stanford and Berkley universities in the U.S., Jimenez joined the company in 2007 and has been CEO since 2010.
Jimenez will step down as CEO Jan. 31, 2018, and will be available for advice and support for the board of directors or the CEO until he retires from Novartis on Aug. 31, 2018.
He said, "Both from a professional and a personal perspective, this is the right moment to hand the leadership reins of the company to Vas."
Before joining Novartis in 2005, Narasimhan worked at McKinsey & Company.
He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in the United States and obtained a master's degree in public policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
