Chutes & Ladders: Management shakeup at Pfizer

Pfizer's new CEO, Jeffrey Kindler, has wasted little time in shaking up the management structure at Pfizer. David L. Shedlarz, who had been a candidate for the top post, becomes Kindler's chief deputy. Vice Chairman Karen Katen, who also vied for the top job, is gone. Ian Read moves from chief of Pfizer's European division to take over Katen's post in charge of worldwide sales. Katen's deputy, Pat Kelly, is also gone, replaced by Peter Brandt, currently executive vice president of the U.S. division. Dr. John LaMattina and Dr. Joe Feczko are now executives, with Dr. LaMattina still in charge of drug discovery work and Dr. Feczko becoming chief medical officer with a big role to play with the regulators. Kindler told Pfizer employees that the elevation of the scientists was to highlight the importance of research in the company, which he helped underscore soon after winning the top job by traveling to Pfizer's research headquarters in Connecticut in his first week as CEO. Pfizer has had a miserable track record in developing new therapies over the last five years, a situation that analysts say has to change dramatically and quickly.

- here's the article [1] on Pfizer from The New York Times