AstraZeneca Restructures Cardiovascular and Diabetes Units into Integrated Metabolic Franchise Following Novartis’ Lead

　　【Pharmaceutical Network - Corporate News] As the domestic epidemic situation gradually improves, many pharmaceutical giants have adjusted their businesses. Following Novartis’s recent announcement to integrate its Metabolism and Transplant division with its Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia division, AstraZeneca announced on March 27 that it would officially merge its two major therapeutic areas, Cardiovascular and Diabetes, into the Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Metabolism business unit effective April 1. Zhu Tong, the current head of the Cardiovascular business unit, will serve as the head of the newly integrated business unit.
 

Data shows that AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company with branches in more than 100 countries and production bases in 18 countries. In 1993, AstraZeneca entered China, and to date, it has invested over $1 billion in the country, with sales in China reaching $3.7 billion in 2018.
 

AstraZeneca China’s Cardiovascular and Diabetes Business Unit was formerly the Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism Business Unit just over a year ago. Lai Minglong, the current General Manager of AstraZeneca China, previously served as the head of this business unit. Before Lai Minglong joined AstraZeneca, the Cardiovascular and Metabolism Business Unit was led by Shi Wang. Shi Wang later left AstraZeneca to join Merck & Co. (MSD) and currently serves as the Head of the Primary Care & Women’s Health (PC&WH) Business Unit at MSD China.
 

In China, the prevention and control of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases face a severe situation, with a large patient population, leading to a year-on-year increase in demand for related therapeutic drugs. In the field of cardiovascular and metabolic health, AstraZeneca boasts extensive experience, offering a portfolio that includes cardiovascular products such as Betaloc, Betaloc ZOK, Brilinta, and Crestor, as well as metabolic products such as Byetta, Onglyza, and Forxiga.
 

Among these, the oral hypoglycemic agent Forxiga (dapagliflozin) is a core product of AstraZeneca. In 2019, Forxiga was successfully included in the National Reimbursement Drug List through price negotiations, achieving a 96% growth that year, with sales exceeding RMB 500 million. The total sales for the diabetes portfolio surpassed RMB 1.1 billion. Relevant studies have shown that Forxiga demonstrated significant benefits in the landmark Phase III DAPA-HF trial for the treatment of heart failure, significantly reducing the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization. This may help alleviate the substantial disease burden caused by heart failure and improve patient prognosis.
 

Following the integration of the business units, leadership changes naturally occurred within AstraZeneca. It is reported that Zhu Tong, the current head of the Cardiovascular Business Unit, will assume the role of head of the newly integrated business unit, overseeing both the cardiovascular and diabetes & metabolism portfolios. Guan Hong, the current head of the Diabetes Business Unit, will take charge of product development management for AstraZeneca’s strategic iHospital project, reporting directly to Ms. Xu Jing, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of Digital and Commercial Innovation. Wen Hui will continue to serve as Executive Director of Market Insights and Market Training for the integrated business unit, reporting to Liu Qian, Head of Community Business and Chief Marketing Officer, who also oversees Commercial Strategy and Excellence Operations.

 

Meanwhile, Zhang Anwei, currently the National Sales Executive Director for Diabetes, will be responsible for building the device marketing and sales team to drive the rapid launch and development of the innovative device business, reporting directly to Dong Lijun, General Manager of the Gastrointestinal and Full Product Portfolio Expansion Business Unit. Within the Diabetes business, Yan Huaguo from Region II will transition to the role of Marketing Director for Onglyza/Kombiglyze; Lu Linlin, Deputy Marketing Director for Cardiovascular, will transition to Deputy Marketing Director for Forxiga; and Yin Damo, Deputy Marketing Director for Onglyza/Kombiglyze, will transition to Head of Multi-Channel Management, among other changes.

 

In addition, for the diabetes business sales team, apart from retaining three dedicated sales regions, the remaining four sales regions will be fully merged with the cardiovascular business, and the reporting lines of the respective regional sales directors will be adjusted accordingly.
 

It is worth noting that AstraZeneca has explicitly stated that the integration of its cardiovascular and diabetes business teams underscores its ambitions in this field, with plans to potentially add positions and expand its sales force in the near future.