Pharmacia & Upjohn CEO search to replace Zabriskie comes as company is riding NDA approval wave.
Executive Summary
PHARMACIA & UPJOHN CEO SEARCH LIKELY TO FOCUS ON OUTSIDERS to replace John Zabriskie, PhD, as chief executive officer of the newly merged firm. Former Pharmacia CEO Jan Ekberg has stepped down as non-executive chairman of Pharmacia & Upjohn to serve as interim CEO. Appointment of an outsider as permanent CEO could avoid internal tensions about the ascendancy of Pharmacia or Upjohn in the "merger of equals" while reassuring the financial community that the integration process is being overseen by an objective eye.