Novartis announced that Jonathan Symonds, currently managing director, Investment Banking, at Goldman Sachs will be joining Novartis on September 1st as deputy CFO and as CFO designate, reporting to Raymund Breu, who will retire on March 31, 2010 at the age of 65, after 35 years of outstanding service to Novartis.

"Jonathan Symonds' financial expertise, broad industry experience and deep knowledge of the healthcare industry make him especially suited to take on the responsibilities of CFO of Novartis from Raymund Breu," said Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO.

Symonds, 50, spent eight years as CFO at AstraZeneca, where his position encompassed Finance, M&A, Strategy, IT, Purchasing, Business Development and Licensing. Before that he was Finance Director at Zeneca and previously was a partner at KPMG.