By Padmanabhan Ananthan
June 18 (Reuters) - Pfizer said on Thursday that finance chief Dave Denton will leave on August 15 to return to the consumer goods industry, after helping the U.S. drugmaker navigate its post-COVID transition.
The company named Cecile Guegan, senior vice president of finance for its global biopharmaceuticals business, as interim chief financial officer. Guegan has held a range of finance roles over 20 years at Pfizer.
Shares of the company were down 1.6% at $25.4 in premarket
trading.
Scotiabank analyst Louise Chen said Denton's exit raises concerns among investors about the company's 2026 forecast, succession plans and the timing of the move when Pfizer is preparing to enter the obesity drug market.
A FOUR-YEAR RUN
Denton, who succeeded long-time Pfizer finance chief Frank D'Amelio in 2022, joined from home-improvement chain Lowe's Cos and was previously CFO at CVS Health, where he worked for nearly 20 years.
His tenure at Pfizer coincided with an aggressive dealmaking phase as the company used the windfall from its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment to buy cancer-focused Seagen, migraine drugmaker Biohaven and weight-loss treatment developer Metsera.
The deals aimed to soften the hit from declining sales of its COVID vaccine and antiviral treatment and prepare for looming patent expirations on key products.
CEO Albert Bourla has set a goal of adding $20 billion in revenue by 2030, but expects to return to growth after 2028.
The company's shares have nearly halved since Denton took over as CFO, as investors worried whether the acquisitions and internal drug development programs can offset the revenue shortfall.
Despite the lingering concerns, shares have gained about 4% so far this year.
Pfizer said it will conduct an internal and external search for a permanent successor.
Denton and Guegan will work together on the transition, the company said.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Sriraj Kalluvila)
