Another senior departure at AstraZeneca

In yet another senior executive departure at Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), Simon Lowth, chief financial officer and executive director, will leave the company at the end of October, after the reporting of third quarter results. A search for his successor is underway, said AstraZeneca.

Mr Lowth, who served as AstraZeneca’s interim chief executive after the departure chief executive David Brennan in June last year and prior to CEO replacement Pascal Soriot taking up the post in October 2012, has been appointed CFO for the oil-and-gas producer BG Group PLC and will take up his new post in November, where he will reportedly receive a basic salary of £725,000 ($1.1 million).

Mr Lowth's departure comes six months after the heads of R&D and commercial operations - Martin Mackay and Tony Zook - left following a management shake-up (The Pharma Letter January 17). All had been contenders for the CEO post. AstraZeneca, which is suffering financially due to recent patent expiries of some of its blockbuster drugs, has reported five consecutive quarterly declines in revenues and profits.