Novartis changes CFOs, reveals cuts to workforce and chairman pay

While the U.S. government was announcing its kickbacks lawsuit against Novartis, the Swiss drugmaker was putting the finishing touches on a few press releases of its own. First, earnings: The company ($NVS) managed to keep its quarterly sales on par with last year's, despite some key patent losses. Second, CFO Jon Symonds is out and current pharma CFO Harry Kirsch steps up to take his place. And third, incoming Chairman Joerg Reinhardt won't collect half the compensation of his predecessor. Buried in that earnings release was the news that Novartis' troubled consumer-drugs plant in Lincoln, NE, will cut 300 jobs over the next two years, as the facility scales down to produce only solid and powdered drugs. FiercePharma article