Vasant "Vas" Narasimhan (born August 26, 1976) is an American physician and the chief executive officer of Novartis.[1][2][3][4] He succeeded Joseph Jimenez who left Novartis in 2018.[5] He briefly worked at McKinsey before joining Novartis in 2005, where he has held a range of leadership roles, including Global Head of Development for Novartis Vaccines and Global Head of Drug Development & Chief Medical Officer. [6]
Early life
Narasimhan was born in Pittsburgh in 1976 to IyengarBrahmin parents who originated from Tamil Nadu, India.[7] His parents came to the US from India in the 1960’s and early 1970’s and started the Shri Venkateshwara temple in Penn Hills, Pittsburgh which he has stated was influential in his upbringing. Narasimhan's mother was a nuclear engineer for Public Service Electric and Gas Company and his father was an executive at Hoeganaes Corporation.[8][9]
After his first year of medical school, Vas went to Kolkata, India to work with street children and child laborers for three months. He later worked on malaria and HIV/AIDS in Tanzania and he did his thesis on multidrug resistant tuberculosis in Peru.[9][16][6]
Narasimhan joined McKinsey & Co, as a consultant and engagement manager for two years and was recruited by Novartis in 2005.[16][6]
He spent eight years working in Novartis Vaccines, and was the Global Head of Development, Novartis Vaccines in the US between 2012 and 2014 before moving to Sandoz as Global Head of Biopharmaceuticals and Oncology Injectables.[6][17]
From 2014 to 2016, he was the Global Head of Development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. From 2016 to 2018, he held the role of Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer within the company.[6]
He publicly stated his desire to focus Novartis from a diversified company to a pure-play medicines company.[20] He also advocated for development of key technologies and capabilities in advanced therapy platforms, such as cell therapy and gene therapy,[21]RNA therapeutics, and radioligand therapy.[22][23]
In February 2018, three months after becoming CEO, Narasimhan apologized to Novartis employees after it was revealed that Novartis had signed a $1.2 million year-long contract with President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen's consulting firm in February 2017.[30][31]
In 2019, in response to an FDA investigation about manipulated data involving Zolgensma, Narasimhan defended the company's decision to delay informing the FDA and also announced the company was forcing out scientists who were involved in the manipulated data.[32][33][34]
As part of a "more comprehensive commitment to ethics”, Narasimhan has moved to settle long standing bribery and anti-trust cases facing Novartis in the US, China, Vietnam and Greece.[35][36][37]
Narasimhan married Srishti Gupta in 2003, after meeting her at Harvard while organizing an Asian cultural festival.[45] They have two children and live in Basel, Switzerland.[17] Narasimhan is a vegetarian.[46][47]
^ ab"WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Srishti Gupta, Vasan Narasimhan". The New York Times. March 16, 2003. Retrieved July 8, 2022. His mother, Gira Narasimhan, a former nuclear engineer for Public Service Electric & Gas, is a lecturer in physics at Burlington County Community College in Pemberton, N.J. His father is the vice president for research and development at the Hoeganaes Corporation, a supplier and developer of industrial raw materials, in Cinnaminson, N.J.
^Smale, Will (March 18, 2020). "'It was never my plan to be the boss of a huge company'". BBC. Retrieved July 8, 2022. There was also no let up in his summer holidays, as he was always volunteering overseas; helping to fight malaria in Gambia, tackling tuberculosis in Peru and child poverty in India.
