Pfizer provides top post for vax scientist

Now that Pfizer is reordering its house to make way for the $68 billion addition of Wyeth, it has taken particular pains to retain the skills of Wyeth's head of vaccines, Emilio Emini (photo). Emini made the shift to Wyeth after blazing a path in vaccines for Merck, where he helped lead the development of new vaccines for shingles, cancer-causing viruses and severe diarrhea.

In the newly restructured R&D organization at Pfizer, which is being split between small and large molecule development, Emini is being given the title of chief scientific officer for vaccines. And analysts were quick to note that the top research position is a sign of just how important Pfizer execs view retaining Wyeth's scientific talents.

"You don't want to lose someone who is a driving force behind vaccines, which are a core value driver of the overall Wyeth acquisition," analyst Seamus Fernandez of Leerink Swann tells the Wall Street Journal.

- read the report in the Wall Street Journal

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