Novartis AG announced that Marie-France Tschudin, currently President, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, will become President, Innovative Medicines International and Chief Commercial Officer. In her capacity as Chief Commercial Officer, Marie-France Tschudin will oversee global marketing, medical affairs and value and access across all therapeutic areas. Victor Bulto, currently Head of US Pharmaceuticals, will become President, Innovative Medicines US.

They will both report to Vas Narasimhan effective immediately. Effective immediately, Steffen Lang, currently Global Head of Novartis Technical Operations, will become President, Operations reporting to Vas Narasimhan. Novartis has appointed Shreeram Aradhye, M.D., as President, Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer effective May 16th, 2022.

Dr. Aradhye, who is returning to Novartis, was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Dicerna Therapeutics where he led the development of multiple clinical stage RNAi assets. Previously, he was Chief Development Officer at Axcella Health. Dr. Aradhye has dedicated his entire professional career to improving patient lives, first as an academic clinician and then as a drug developer and business leader.

He brings significant experience in global clinical development of innovative medicines across several therapeutic areas and has played a key leadership role in the development of multiple innovative therapeutics. During his 20-year tenure at Novartis, he held several global leadership roles including as development head for the company's Neuroscience franchise and Global Head of Medical Affairs for the Pharmaceuticals business unit. Dr. Aradhye will report to Vas Narasimhan and join the ECN.

With the changes in organizational structure and operating model, John Tsai, M.D., has decided to pursue opportunities outside Novartis effective May 15th, 2022. Susanne Schaffert, Ph.D., President, Novartis Oncology, Robert Weltevreden, President, Customer & Technology Solutions and John Tsai, M.D., President, Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer are leaving Novartis.