On the evening of December 4th, AstraZeneca announced several important personnel appointments. Among them, the positions of Global Executive Vice President and Head of International Business will be taken over by Iskra Reic. It is worth noting that Iskra is replacing Wang Lei, who had previously been temporarily absent from his job due to an investigation in China.
According to the data, Iskra joined AstraZeneca in 2001 and has since held various leadership positions within the company, including Global Executive Vice President, Head of Europe and Canada, and has been serving as Global Executive Vice President and Head of Vaccine and Immunotherapy Business since 2021. She has also held senior positions in Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa. Since 2017, Iskra has been a member of AstraZeneca's senior management team. Recently, Iskra has been responsible for the newly established AstraZeneca Vaccine and Immunotherapy Business Unit. In this position, she is fully responsible for the early and late development of the product pipeline and product portfolio, covering COVID-19 vaccine, respiratory syncytial virus vaccine and monoclonal antibody, strategic cooperation and acquisition, medical affairs and commercial operations.
AstraZeneca stated that after taking over, Iskra will be fully responsible for the overall strategy of this vast region, including China, Asia and Eurasia markets, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, to drive sustainable business growth.
After the appointment of Iskra Reic was announced, the new international business leader quickly initiated a series of personnel adjustments to the management team in the China region. Specifically, according to information disclosed by AstraZeneca, the position of AstraZeneca China General Manager previously held by Lai Minglong will be taken over by Lin Xiao; The position of General Manager of AstraZeneca's China Oncology Business, concurrently held by Lai Minglong, will also be taken over by Guan Dongmei.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiao and Guan Dongmei will become members of the global management teams for the Biopharmaceutical Business Unit and the Oncology Business Unit, respectively. Lin Xiao, Guan Dongmei, and Hu Yiqing, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of the Rare Disease Division, will all report directly to Iskra. After personnel changes, Lai Minglong will be transferred to the global oncology business unit of AstraZeneca, serving as the head of AstraZeneca's Dato DXd global oncology business and lung cancer business unit, reporting to Sunil Verma, the senior vice president and head of AstraZeneca's oncology business unit.
According to public information, before joining AstraZeneca, Lin Xiao served as the head of strategic planning for Asia and Greater China at Sanofi, the head of marketing for Sanofi's core product division in China, and also as the vice president of Ping An Good Doctor. Lin Xiao joined AstraZeneca in 2019 as the head of AstraZeneca's kidney treatment field in China. In January 2021, Lin Xiao will serve as the head of AstraZeneca's digital business in China on the basis of his original responsibilities, responsible for the development of digital, e-commerce and Internet hospital businesses. In February 2022, he became the Vice President of AstraZeneca China and the Head of the Respiratory, Digestive, and Autoimmune Business Unit. In August 2023, he became the Vice President of AstraZeneca China, responsible for the Respiratory Inhalation and Biopharmaceutical Division, as well as the Hong Kong and Macau regions.
Guan Dongmei has previously served as the head of the immune oncology business at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and the head of the specialty drug division at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In November 2022, Guan Dongmei joined AstraZeneca as the head of the Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolic Division.