Basel, 30 January 2004 - Novartis announced today the appointment of Jim Barrington as Chief Information Officer of the Novartis Group companies. He will also take on the role of Chief Information Officer of the Novartis Pharma Division. In his dual role, he will be reporting to Raymond Breu, Corporate CFO and George Bickerstaff, Pharma CFO, respectively. He will also be a member of the Pharma Executive Committee.
Jim Barrington joined Novartis in 2001 as Chief Information Operations Officer. During his career, he has held increasingly senior IT positions with Eli Lilly in Ireland, with Gillette in Ireland, Germany and the UK and with Whirlpool in Italy. Prior to joining Novartis, he was Group CIO of ABB in Switzerland. He holds an MBA from Kingston University. Jim Barrington succeeds Peter Sany, who has decided to leave Novartis to pursue other interests.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2003, the Group's businesses achieved sales of USD 24.9 billion and a net income of USD 5.0 billion. The Group invested approximately USD 3.8 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 78 500 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For further information please consult http://www.novartis.com.
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