AZ appoints Alexion’s Aradhana Sarin as chief financial officer

AstraZeneca (AZ) has appointed Aradhana Sarin (pictured above) as its new chief financial officer and an executive director upon closing of the company’s acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, expected in the third quarter of 2021.

Currently, Sarin serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Alexion, a role she progressed to after joining the company in 2017 as chief business and strategy officer.

She has over 20 years of experience gained from operating roles at Alexion and advisory roles at global financial institutions, AZ said in a statement.

Prior to joining Alexion, she served as managing director, healthcare corporate & investment banking at Citi Global Banking. In this role, she advised clients working in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical industries.

She also previously held the role of managing director, healthcare investment banking at UBS and worked at JP Morgan in the M&A Advisory and Healthcare groups.

Before embarking on her banking career, Sarin trained as a medical doctor in India and spent two years practising medicine in India and Africa.

At AZ, she will succeed current chief financial officer Marc Dunoyer, who will step down from the role and retire from the company’s board upon closing of the acquisition. Dunoyer will then go on to become chief executive officer of the Alexion unit and chief strategy officer of AZ.

Meanwhile, Sarin will relocate from the US to be based in the UK, and will report to AZ’s chief executive officer Pascal Soriot.

“I’d like to pay tribute to Marc for his tremendous achievements since he joined our company, and thank him personally for his outstanding support these past years,” said Soriot.

"I’m looking forward to working with him in his new role as CEO, Alexion, the Rare Disease Unit of AstraZeneca, and to his continued strategic input to AstraZeneca’s success.  I’m delighted Aradhana has agreed to become AstraZeneca’s next CFO and I look forward to working with her as the company embarks on the next stage of its journey,” he added.