Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) shares made a slight gain early on Monday after the firm announced that there would be a big change at the top, and this executive is coming from another major pharma firm.
Essentially, the board of directors named Daniel O’Day chair of the board and chief executive officer, effective March 1, 2019. O’Day is currently the CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, a position he has held since 2012. His career spans three decades of diverse leadership roles across North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
The board has also appointed Gregg Alton as interim CEO for the period of January 1, 2019, until O’Day’s start date. Alton has held a number of executive positions at Gilead over the past 20 years, with experience in legal, medical affairs, policy and commercial. He previously served as general counsel and, in August of this year, was appointed chief patient officer.
As previously announced, Dr. John C. Martin will step down from Gilead’s board of directors, effective March 1, 2019, O’Day’s first day of employment. Also as previously announced, John F. Milligan, Ph.D., will step down from his role as president and CEO and as a member of the board at the end of 2018.
Martin commented:
Following a comprehensive search, the Board became convinced that Dan is the right leader to bring Gilead into the future. He is uniquely qualified to take on this role given his track record of success in highly scientific and competitive therapeutic areas, deep understanding of the evolving healthcare environment around the world, and unwavering commitment to driving innovation across all aspects of a business, which will serve Gilead and our stakeholders well. Additionally, Dan brings expertise and values that are aligned with our organization, and I, along with Gilead’s entire Board, am confident in his ability to work alongside our talented leadership team and deliver on our ambitious goals.
Shares of Gilead closed Friday at $68.15, in a 52-week range of $64.27 to $89.54. The consensus analyst price target is $86.15. Following the announcement, the stock was up about 1.5% at $69.15.
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