Amgen Names New CFO

Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant Amgen has appointed Jonathan M. Peacock as Chief Financial Officer effective Sept. 1. Peacock joins Amgen from Swiss drugmaker Novartis Pharmaceutical AG, where he was CFO and administration officer since 2005. Prior to the Novartis position, he was a partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He was also a partner at Price Waterhouse in New York and London. Peacock will be in charge of Amgen’s finance and investor relations operations, and will report to Chairman and CEO Kevin Shearer. He replaces Michael Kelly, who has been acting CFO since May. Kelly will relocate to Zug, Switzerland to serve as Amgen’s vice president of international finance. In April, the company named then CFO Robert A. Bradway to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Peacock joins Amgen as the company launches its osteoporosis drug Prolia, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June. The drug is considered key to future growth of Amgen, who has also filed for the drug’s approval in helping prevent bone complications in cancer patients, where it will directly compete with Novartis’ Zometa. Amgen will pay Peacock a base salary of $800,000, along with participation in a management incentive plan, stock and options, and a $1 million signing bonus, according to a regulatory filing. Amgen will also cover Peacock’s relocation expenses from Switzerland of up to $400,000.