Drugs giant clears out its directors

STRUGGLING drugs giant AstraZeneca has begun a boardroom cull as it steps up the hunt for a chief executive to replace Sir Tom McKillop.

At least two main board directors, including former BT boss Sir Peter Bonfield, face the axe as new chairman Louis Schweitzer seeks to inject fresh blood into the Anglo-Swedish group, which has been rocked by a series of setbacks for several key drugs.

Schweitzer's priority is to find a successor for McKillop, who has been persuaded to stay for another year after he reaches the company's retirement age of 62 in March.

Shareholders are expected to question Schweitzer, the former boss of French car group Renault, about the succession when the annual results are unveiled this week. Analysts expect AstraZeneca to post operating profits for 2004 of £2.5 billion, up 17% on the previous year.

Investors fear McKillop might become a lame duck unless a successor is identified soon. In the meantime, AstraZeneca could be vulnerable to a bid from a larger rival such as GlaxoSmithKline. Shares in AstraZeneca are trading close to their two-year low after a series of setbacks for several potential blockbuster drugs such as blood-thinning product Exanta, anticholestorol treatment Crestor and lung cancer treatment Iressa.

Internal candidates include finance director Jonathan Symonds and new board member Dr John Patterson, who is responsible for drug development.

Schweitzer acceleratedthe search for McKillop's replacement after taking over from Percy Barnevik as AstraZeneca chairman this month.

His cull will target those directors closely linked with Investor, the holding company for Sweden's Wallenberg family. Investor became the company's biggest shareholder when Britain's Zeneca and Sweden's Astra merged six years ago, but its stake has dwindled to 4%.