|
The
British drugmaker said on Wednesday that Cornelia Bargmann would
step down from its board next month to take up a new role as
president of Chan Zuckerberg Science, part of the Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative.
Leif Johansson, AstraZeneca's chairman, said the board was sorry
to see her leave but understood Bargmann's decision to focus on
the new assignment.
Zuckerberg and Chan unveiled their new initiative last week,
with a goal to "cure, prevent or manage all disease within our
children's lifetime".
Their plan echoes the big global health ambitions of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, another philanthropic endeavor funded
by tech industry money that has similarly tapped the
pharmaceuticals sector in the past for key staff.
On the plus side, AstraZeneca also said it had hired Columbia
University genetics expert David Goldstein to the consultative
role chief adviser for genomics. Goldstein, who will continue
his academic jobs, had previously served as chair of
AstraZeneca's genomics advisory panel.
The company unveiled a 10-year plan in April for a massive gene
hunt in the biggest bet yet by a drugmaker on the potential of
genetic variations to unlock routes to new medicines.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Adrian Croft)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
