Novartis India ex-chief Jawed Zia joins rival Abbott

MUMBAI: Jawed Zia, the former managing director of Novartis India who quit days after being appointed to lead the Swiss drug company’s India business has joined rival drug maker Abbott India as vice-president established pharmaceuticals.

ET had reported on Tuesday that Zia will be moving to Abbott. Zia’s resignation last Friday came as a surprise to many in the pharma industry considering he had officially taken charge just 15 days ago from the company’s previous vice-chairman Ranjit Shahani. Abbott in the second largest drug maker in India but it competes with Novartis in several therapy areas like cardiovascular, and diabetes. However they also a tie up for certain drugs.

Novartis, with domestic sales of nearly Rs 1,200 crore has been battling in the anti-diabetes drug space with several rivals. In the past year, it has also been facing heat from anticompetition regulators for price collision over its anti-diabetic drug Galvus, along with other drug makers like Abbott, USV and Emcure.