Roche’s William Pao joins Pfizer as CDO

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) named William Pao as EVP and chief development officer, effective March 21. Pao will succeed Rod MacKenzie, whose retirement after 35 years with the company was announced last October. Pao joins Pfizer from Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY), where he was head of pharma research and early development. Before joining Roche in 2014, he was an academic physician for 25 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Weill Cornell Medical College. 

Pao will be succeeded at Roche by Johannes "Hans" Clevers, who is a professor in molecular genetics at Utrecht University, principal investigator at the Hubrecht Institute and Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, and an Oncode Investigator. Clevers joined Roche’s board in 2019 but will resign from it when he takes over from Pao on March 18...