Biotechnology giant MedImmune has appointed Bahija Jallal, its current Executive Vice President for R&D, as its new President.

The former President of the Maryland-based company, Peter Greenleaf, will take over leadership of parent company AstraZeneca’s (AZ) Latin American business.

The transition accompanies the formal designation of MedImmune as the global biologics division of AZ, which acquired it for $15.6bn in 2007.

Bahija Jallal is a former researcher at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany. While VP of Drug Assessment and Development at Chiron, she was headhunted by MedImmune in 2006, becoming its Head of Translational Science.

Commenting on that appointment, Jallal said: “I was struck by MedImmune’s history of innovation. And I looked at who they had on their board of directors and their executives. There were more women than you would see at other companies.”

The fortune paid by AZ to acquire MedImmune surprised many in the industry. The acquisition was followed by investment in its R&D capability, including the development of a new site in Cambridge, England, and the merger of the UK group with Cambridge Antibody Technology.

According to MedImmune spokesman Mike O’Brien, the biotech company’s commercial operation now formally belongs to AZ’s North American business, while its manufacturing operation is part of AZ’s global operations.

“The driver for these changes is not cost but even faster decision-making in key areas of the business and a need to reduce complexity,” he said.

Through MedImmune, AZ plans to deliver an average of one new biologic drug per year from 2013.

MedImmune’s past successes include two innovative vaccines: the first monoclonal antibody approved by the FDA for use against an infectious disease (Synagis, used to prevent the childhood lung disease RSV); and the first intranasal vaccine against influenza (FluMist).

AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan has played down speculation over his future at the company.

Major shareholders recently questioned whether Mr Brennan was the right man to lead the company out of its current pipeline problems.

However, the CEO says he is “plugged in” to the current issues the company faces and insists his role “hasn’t changed a bit” after the criticism of his leadership.

AZ is set to be one of the biggest losers during the ‘patent cliff’. Its major brands Seroquel and Atacand lose protection this year, Nexium is set to go off patent in 2014/15 and Crestor in 2016.

Its huge £15.6 billion takeover of MedImmune in 2007 was hoped to ease the pressure of generic competition but has failed to meet expectations and led one shareholder to say the deal has “tarnished” the CEO’s reputation.

But Mr Brennan, who has been the CEO for the past six years, insists he is the right man to lead the company. He commented: “I read and hear and see lots of things, but we’re here trying to change policy, make good decisions and execute our strategy.

“If it’s about restructuring, we can do that without a big deal. Maybe somebody sees something different, but spending more money does not have a linear increase in the number of returns you get from a research and development perspective.”

It’s widely expected that the 58-year-old will vacate his role around the time of his 60^th birthday. But an AZ spokesperson said that Mr Brennan is still “fully committed to leading AstraZeneca”.

AstraZeneca will collaborate with Amgen to develop and commercialise five products from the US biotech company’s portfolio of antibodies to fight inflammation.

The five monoclonal antibodies offer potential treatments for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, asthma, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and lupus.

Under the terms of the agreement, the UK pharma company will make a one-off $50m upfront payment and then the companies will share costs and profits.

The collaboration will increase Amgen’s resources for drug development, drawing on the expertise of AZ’s biologics business MedImmune as well as its global commercial reach.

The companies will jointly develop and commercialise the following five assets from Amgen’s clinical-stage portfolio:

• Brodalumab (AMG 827), currently being investigated for psoriasis (planned phase III), psoriatic arthritis (phase II) and asthma (phase II).

• AMG 139, being investigated for Crohn’s disease (phase Ib).

• AMG 181, being investigated for ulcerative colitis (phase Ia) and Crohn’s disease ((phase Ib).

• AMG 557, being investigated for autoimmune diseases such as lupus (phase Ib).

• AMG 157, being investigated for asthma (phase Ib).

The agreement does not include certain territories covered by Amgen’s existing agreements with Kyowa Hakko Kirin for brodalumab and Takeda for AMG 557.

AZ will fund approximately 65% of costs for these products to the end of 2014, and then the companies will split costs equally. Amgen will book global sales and retain a single-digit royalty for the portfolio, after which they will share profits equally.

Amgen will lead the development and commercial strategy for brodalumab and AMG 557, while AZ will do the same for AMG 139, AMG 157 and AMG 181.

David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca, said: “This creative collaboration will make the most of both companies’ respective capabilities, including AstraZeneca’s extensive global reach, to help bring these potentially innovative treatment options for a variety of respiratory and inflammatory diseases to patients around the world.”

“We believe this collaboration has the potential to bring more therapies to patients sooner, across more geographic areas,” commented Kevin Sharer, CEO of Amgen. “We are impressed with AstraZeneca’s extensive experience in developing and launching products in the respiratory and gastroenterology areas, and believe this collaboration is an opportunity to work with a partner that has leading regulatory and commercial expertise in inflammation indications.”