Novartis AG announced that Marie-France Tschudin, President, Innovative Medicines International and Chief Commercial Officer, has decided to leave the company and will step down from the Executive Committee of Novartis (ECN), effective September 15, after nearly seven years of commercial leadership at Novartis. Patrick Horber, M.D., currently Senior Vice President and President, Immunology at AbbVie has been appointed as President, International, effective later this year, reporting to Vas Narasimhan, M.D., CEO of Novartis. Dr. Horber will become a member of the ECN.

Mukul Mehta, Chief Financial Officer, International, will lead the unit ad-interim until Dr. Horber assumes the role. Dr. Horber holds a M.D. from the University of Zurich. He is a native of Switzerland with over 20 years of experience in the biopharma sector and a deep understanding of the global pharmaceutical market.

In his latest role as Senior Vice President and President, Immunology, at AbbVie, Dr. Horber was responsible for their Immunology Business Unit, leading the Global Strategy and U.S. execution including Global Commercial Development. Prior to this role he has served in a variety of leadership and general management positions in the US and Europe.