Chris Hughes, Columnist

AstraZeneca's Unlikely $4 Billion Man

AstraZeneca's share price fall doesn't mean Soriot's a superstar.

July 13, 2017 at 10:56 AM UTC

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

1499944861_pascal — Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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It doesn't take much to knock about $4 billion from the value of a giant drug company whose shares have had a good run this year. That's how much AstraZeneca Plc lost as its stock fell 5 percent in early London trading on Thursday, after Israeli business publication Calcalist said CEO Pascal Soriot was poised to join Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Success for pharmaceutical companies comes down to scientists discovering blockbuster drugs. This is a by-product of management's ability to foster an innovative environment and make the right decisions about which projects to back and which to ditch. Individual leadership is a small part of the formula. It's easier to imagine a CEO single-handedly screwing things up at AstraZeneca, by doing an overpriced acquisition for example, rather than being solely responsible for the successes of its 60,000 staff.