Alexion Pharmaceuticals CEO Resigns: Changes But No Clarity Over Company Woes

The drug company, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, lost its leadership when the CEO and CFO resigned with immediate effect amid an internal probe into the company's sale practices.

Known as the maker of one of the world's most expensive medicines, Alexion unexpectedly announced it had replaced its leaders. However, no explanations were given regarding the sudden replacements.

Company Woes?

The firm's sales dropped 13.3 percent at $114.8 in premarket reading on Dec. 12, following the resignation. David Hallal, the company's former CEO, has left his post for "personal reasons" and to replace him is David Brennan, former AstraZeneca Plc chief. On the other hand, David Anderson, the former financial officer of Honeywell International, will assume the CFO role that was vacated by Vikas Sinha, who said he is pursuing other opportunities.

The company started an internal investigation after a former employee claimed something was fishy about its sale practices of Soliris, a rare-disease medicine that has gained the company its name in the pharmaceutical world. Though the company said that the probe is almost finished, it did not divulge the results yet.

"With strong new leaders in place, we will continue to be relentlessly focused on serving patients and families with devastating and rare diseases. With a dedicated and talented team of 3,000 employees, coupled with our breakthrough medical innovation, Alexion will continue to develop and deliver life-transforming therapies for patients and families who count on us," Dr. Lenny Bell, Alexion founder, said in a press release.

What Are The Changes Expected?

"One thing I feel about the culture of this company is how deeply people in the company feel about this mission of the company," Brennan, the company's new CEO, said as reported by Forbes. "We have no intention of changing that. We're not looking at a change in strategy," he added.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals focuses on treating rare diseases. For the company's 24-year history, it was run by founder Lenny Bell. The company gained immense popularity for developing Soliris or Eculizumab, which is used to treat two rare diseases, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). According to Forbes, Soliris is the world's single most expensive drug. It is priced at $409,500 a year.

However, over the past few months, the company faced woes as it announced that its board of directors has known of sales practices that were inconsistent with the company's policies. Because of the investigations, the company delayed the filing of its third quarter results with the Securities and Exchange Commission.