AZ promotes a new chief of drug development

John Patterson (photo) is retiring after seeing "mixed" responses from his stint as chief of development at AstraZeneca. Pharmalot notes Patterson, 61, will be replaced by Anders Ekblom, 54, who takes over at the end of January. Ekblom signed on to work at the pharma giant 15 years ago after working at Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institutet. He is currently head of global clinical development.

Patterson played a key role in the MedImmune acquisition, helping to build AZ's biotech business around the Maryland developer. But he also saw setbacks for some important drug programs for stroke and diabetes.

- check out the AstraZeneca release
- read the report from Pharmalot

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