Pfizer shows the door to two top executives

Jeffrey Kindler's plans to shake up Pfizer have led to the departure of two top executives. John LaMattina, global head of research, will retire and Alan Levin resigned as chief financial officer, Pfizer announced on Sunday. The two had 50 years of experience at Pfizer, which is laying off 10,000 workers in a major restructuring. But Kindler wants fresh faces at Pfizer, saying "We intend to make our internal capability even more effective by tapping into the best scientific capability outside our walls -- wherever it exists.'' LaMattina's most recent program had been the ill-fated torcetrapib, which was shelved after data showed that the drug was linked to higher blood pressure. There will be tremendous pressure on his successor to come up with several major new approvals to replace the drugs slated to lose patent protection in coming years.

- check out the AP report

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