Schering-Plough Operating Chief Cesan Resigns
Schering-Plough
(SGP)
said this afternoon that Raul Cesan, the pharmaceutical company's president and chief operating officer, will resign effective July 15.
The rest of the senior management team will absorb Cesan's responsibilities as president, eliminating the need to replace him. Cesan also resigned from the board.
"We understand his decision and respect it," Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Jay Kogan said in a statement. Kogan added that he was still "committed to delivering on the company's quality and compliance objectives and getting Schering-Plough back on its growth track. Our priorities and our objectives will not be interrupted by this change."
Schering-Plough said
last week that U.S. regulators found continuing manufacturing deficiencies at some of its pharmaceutical producing plants, increasing worries that the launch of the company's successor to its extremely successful allergy-drug Claritin may be delayed longer.
Shares of Schering-Plough were recently trading down 2.8% to $37.56.