AstraZeneca’s chief lands a bumper £9m pay package
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of AstraZeneca, Britain’s second-biggest pharmaceuticals company, was awarded a total pay package of more than £9m last year, against £5.5m in 2010.
The company’s annual report published yesterday showed that David Brennan’s basic salary rose 2.5 per cent to £997,000 in 2011 in line with pay rises across the group, and this was bolstered by an array of bonuses and share awards.
His 2011 total pay package as reported by the group was £3.37m, including £1.32m cash bonus. Brennan also received a £5.6m one-off share award from 2008, which was released to him last year.
The report said Brennan and chief financial officer Simon Lowth’s cash bonus was 16 per cent lower than 2010, because AstraZeneca’s revenue and core operating profit declined.
The company has been struggling to develop new drugs to fill its medicine cabinet and replace revenues lost due to drug patent expiries.
In sign of further woes, a US judge yesterday refused to grant the company an injunction to delay the launch of generic versions of its top-selling antipsychotic treatment Seroquel.