Wyeth Losing CFO Martin

Wyeth(WYE Quote - Cramer on WYE - Stock Picks) said Friday that Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman Kenneth Martin will leave in June, adding to a string of CFO departures among Big Pharma companies in the last 12 months.

Martin, 53, who had been financial chief since 2000, will "pursue personal interests," Wyeth said in a brief press release. The company will name a new CFO before Martin leaves.

Lately, a number of chief financial officers have been exiting giant drugmakers for unspecified personal reasons or retirement. In February, Merck (MRK Quote - Cramer on MRK - Stock Picks) said Judy Lewent, 58, its CFO for 17 years, would retire in July.

After Lewent and Martin leave, no U.S. Big Pharma company will have had a CFO serving for more than five years. The longest-tenured CFO will be Andrew Bonfield, 44, of Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY Quote - Cramer on BMY - Stock Picks), who started in September 2002.

Other recent changes in the CFO ranks include Dominic Caruso, who took over the job Jan. 1 at Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote - Cramer on JNJ - Stock Picks), succeeding Robert Darretta, who retired after nine years as CFO and 38 years at the company. Caruso had been vice president of J&J's group finance unit.

At Eli Lilly(LLY Quote - Cramer on LLY - Stock Picks), Derica Rice, formerly the controller, moved up to CFO 12 months ago when Charles Golden retired after serving 10 years as chief financial officer.