Teva Pharmaceutical has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Richard Francis as president and chief executive officer — marking the end of the company's seemingly short search for a new leader.
Francis will take the helm on January 1, 2023 replacing the retiring Kåre Schultz. The search was seemingly short-lived, as Schultz only recently confirmed — in an interview with WSJ — that he was planning to step down when his contract expired in Nov. 2023. Schultz was named CEO of a struggling Teva back in Nov. 2017, and shortly after launched a major company reorg combined with layoffs.
The incoming Francis is currently the CEO of Syncona’s portfolio companies, Purespring Therapeutics, one of the first AAV gene therapy companies focused on the kidney globally, and Forcefield Therapeutics, a pioneer of therapeutics to retain heart function via protection of cardiomyocytes. Perhaps more notably, Francis spent five years as CEO of Teva competitor, Sandoz. Prior to his role at Sandoz, Francis was a senior executive at Biogen for 13 years.
