Sharon Barr has been named Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca. Sharon will succeed Mene Pangalos, who is retiring and will leave his position early next year after nearly fourteen years with the company and a distinguished 35-year career.
Sharon will be in charge of everything from discovery to late-stage development in Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. She will report to AstraZeneca’s Chief Executive Officer, Pascal Soriot, and will join the company’s Senior Executive Team (SET) on August 1.
Since 2013, Sharon has served as Senior Vice President, Head of Research and Product Development for Alexion, AstraZeneca’s rare disease division. She was in charge of drug discovery, process development, and clinical supply, as well as clinical biomarkers and bioanalytical discovery, rare disease diagnostics, and bioinformatics, all while supporting Alexion’s industry-leading rare disease pipeline from target discovery to post-marketing. She has over 18 years of expertise in the sector and has previously led teams in translational research, precision medicine, and global development.
Pascal Soriot, CEO, said: “I am delighted that Sharon will join the AstraZeneca Senior Executive Team at a very exciting time for our company. She brings outstanding experience essential to the advancement of our leading BioPharmaceuticals pipeline and a track record of driving productivity, innovation and delivery of medicines for patients. This experience coupled with her leadership style and passion for developing people, places her perfectly to take over the reins from Mene and help us to write the next chapter of success.”
“I also want to take the opportunity to thank Mene for his remarkable contribution to AstraZeneca. He is always quick to praise others, but he must take credit himself for all he has done to transform how we approach R&D, delivering a greater than five-fold improvement in productivity, driving deeper collaborations with academic, biotech and peer organisations, pioneering programs to promote open innovation, and championing innovation and use of new technologies and modalities. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to the role he played in AstraZeneca’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in overseeing the creation of the DISC – our new R&D Centre in Cambridge, UK. The quality of the medicines he has brought to patients, and pipeline and capabilities he has built will be his legacy for many years to come.”
Sharon Barr, EVP Biopharmaceuticals R&D, said: “I am honoured to carry forward the work of this world class BioPharmaceuticals R&D team as it advances an ambition to transform care for people living with chronic diseases. We are at an exciting moment as remarkable science and collaboration across our organization drive forward opportunities to translate early discovery into meaningful medicines that can slow or even stop disease progression, improve prevention, and potentially cure disease. I look forward to the next chapter with this team, as we continue to expand our portfolio and work together to deliver life-changing medicines for patients.”
Mene Pangalos, retiring EVP Biopharmaceuticals R&D, said: “Working at AstraZeneca for nearly 14 years has been an absolute privilege and by far the highlight of my career. I especially wanted to thank Pascal, SET and the Board for their support through the years. The transformation we have made to the pipeline, helping bring many innovative new medicines to patients around the world has been incredible. This is thanks to the amazing and talented teams I am so proud to have worked alongside.
Whilst moving on is always difficult, I know I leave the company in great hands with Sharon and am personally really looking forward to spending more time with my family at home in the UK and in Greece. I will be cheering everyone on from the side-lines excited about the new innovations I know you will deliver while turning great science into great medicines.”
