AstraZeneca looks at life after chief executive Pascal Soriot

AstraZeneca’s chairman has been tasked with finding a replacement for chief executive Pascal Soriot, who has permanently relocated to Australia.

Michel Demare, who took over in April, will be in charge of the hunt for a replacement for Soriot, who has led the FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant for more than a decade.

Soriot, 64, spent most of the pandemic in Sydney with his family. He has now decamped to the city from the UK entirely, according to a source.

No formal succession plan is believed to be under way but the board is thought to be aiming to draw up its strategy before a formal announcement.

Astra’s share price is sensitive to any uncertainty around Soriot, given his successful track record. The Mail on Sunday revealed in September that Soriot had privately told friends and trusted advisers he was looking to leave the biggest company in the FTSE 100.

No decisions have been made and there is no firm timeline on his departure.

When quizzed about his future in February, Soriot – who has been chief executive for 11 years – said: ‘I still feel fit so I am not about to leave any time soon.’

He took over as head of the pharmaceuticals giant in 2012. He has been widely credited for spearheading a turnaround that has transformed AstraZeneca’s image from laggard to pioneer, with a formidable portfolio of blockbuster cancer treatments.

Under his leadership, its market value has more than tripled to £172 billion, ahead of HSBC and just behind Shell.

The French-Australian was last year the best-paid chief executive in the FTSE 100, netting £15.3 million, including a £10.5 million bonus, which is paid in shares if he reaches a number of performance targets.

He is one of the few bosses on the Footsie to have earned more than £100 million over his tenure. So far, he has pocketed £120 million.

His departure will leave a vacuum at the top of the UK’s corporate hierarchy with many of AstraZeneca’s senior leadership team jockeying for position.

Internal candidates to succeed him to include David Fredrickson, head of the all-important Oncology business, BioPharma boss Ruud Dobber and chief financial officer Aradhana Sarin.

An AstraZeneca spokesman said: ‘This is absurd and incorrect.’ The spokesman added that as the chief executive of a global company he ‘travels extensively through the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Europe’ and spends ‘less than 10 per cent of his time in Australia on an annual basis’.