Astrazeneca Shareholders Protest $1.5 Million CEO Bonus

More Exclusive FDA cGMP Compliance News

It’s being called the ‘Golden Hello.’ When AstraZeneca hired Pascal Soirot hired last fall as its new ceo, the drugmaker gave the former Roche exec a healthy $1.5 million to compensate him for a bonus that he had to forfieit, along with a promise of roughly stock worth roughly $6 million based on future performance. But a pension group that owns 2 percent of AstraZeneca shares is outraged over the cash payout, The London Evening Standard reports.

• April 25 – How to Survive PREDICT – FDA’s New Import Screening Program
• April 29 – Audit Your Lab Like an Expert FDA Auditor: A Roadmap to Lab Compliance

The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum is advising its members to reject the compensation plant at the upcoming annual meeting on April 25. Even though Soriot is required to invest the payout, after tax, in AstraZeneca (AZN) stock, the pension group believes the drugmaker “breached” its policy of discontinuing the practice of paying “golden hellos.”

“Companies should discontinue the practice of paying ‘golden hellos’,” the pension group says in a statement. Forum chairman Kieran Quinn adds: “We don’t think executives should be paid for performance they have not achieved. We will challenge such awards when we see them.” We asked AstraZeneca for comment and will update you accordingly.

Upcoming Expertbriefings.com Webinars

• May 2 – Avoid the CDRH eCopy Chaos – How to Prepare a Compliant eCopy Submission
• April 16 – The Quality Manager Gets Fired, the $100,000 Compliance SNAFU, and 21 Tips and Tricks for Your Next Audit
• April 18 – Why You May Want to Move Your Pharma Company to Kansas – 483 and Warning Letter Trends
• April 25 – How to Survive PREDICT – FDA’s New Import Screening Program
• April 29 – Audit Your Lab Like an Expert FDA Auditor: A Roadmap to Lab Compliance
• May 1 – Avoiding Warning Letter Disasters With a Strong Contractor Quality Agreement
• May 7 – FDA Recall Chief Update – How to Design a Bulletproof Product Recall Strategy