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 His departure follows the exit earlier this month of Briggs
Morrison, AstraZeneca's former chief medical officer and head of
late-stage drug development, who moved on to become CEO of privately
owned cancer drug firm Syndax.
An AstraZeneca spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the timing of the
departures was "pure coincidence" and both men were moving on to new
and different types of challenges as business leaders.
Vectura said Ward-Lilley would become CEO effective Oct. 1,
replacing Chris Blackwell, whose departure had already been
announced and who will leave the small drug company at the end of
this month.
The move is a blow to AstraZeneca, which has identified respiratory
medicine as one of its six growth businesses, alongside oncology,
diabetes, the heart drug Brilinta, emerging markets and Japan.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who took over in 2012 and
successfully fought off a $118 billion takeover attempt by Pfizer
last year, has sought to bolster the company's respiratory
franchise.
The drugmaker already boasts an established blockbuster in its
inhaled treatment Symbicort, for asthma and chronic lung disease,
and Soriot plans to build on that after buying Pearl Therapeutics in
2013 and Almirall's lung drug business in 2014.
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Vectura, whose shares traded 1 percent higher by mid-morning, said
Trevor Phillips would act as interim CEO from the end of June until
Ward-Lilley joined the company.
(Additional reporting by Roshni Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by
Pravin Char)
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