David Brennan
Executive Director Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer
David Brennan was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca effective 1 January 2006 and is now based at the global headquarters in London. From 2001 until his appointment to CEO, David was President and Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca LP, the Company’s North American subsidiary for the U.S. and Canada. He was appointed Executive Board Director of AstraZeneca in 2005.
David began his career in 1975 at Merck, where he started as a sales representative in the U.S. Division and later worked in sales and marketing management in the US and International divisions. He joined AstraMerck in 1992 and helped to build the joint venture into a multi-billion dollar business in the U.S. which was then merged to form AstraZeneca in 1999.
He is an alumnus of Gettysburg College where he studied Business Administration.
In addition to his role as Executive Director of AstraZeneca PLC he is also:
- President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA)
- Past Chairman of the Board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
- Member of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
- Member of the European Roundtable of Industrialists
- Member of the National Institute of Health Roundtable on Evidence Based Medicine
- Commissioner of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills
- Past Chairman of the Board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Heart Association
- Honorary Board member of the US CEO Roundtable on Cancer
- Member of the Board of the Philadelphia Orchestra
David is married with four children and six grandchildren. He enjoys scuba diving, cycling and is an amateur photographer.