Said Is Parke-Davis Managing Director

Pfizer India managing director Hocine Sidi Said has been appointed as the managing director of Parke-Davis India too, with effect from today. The move comes in the wake of Pramod Lele relinquishing his managing directorship at Parke-Davis.

The new responsibility given to Said could end the speculation over who would head the merged entity of Pfizer and Parke-Davis in India, industry sources said. While globally the merger of the two firms has been completed, in India it is expected to take place in about more than a year.

Said took over as the managing director of Pfizer in January. Prior to that, he was the country manager of Pfizer in Denmark.

"The appointment of Said is a step towards operational integration of Pfizer and Parke-Davis in India," Parke-Davis said in a statement.

The operational merger of the two is expected to be achieved by the end of this year. However, the legal merger, which is yet to commence, will be completed only after all legal, statutory and regulatory approvals are obtained.

American multinational Pfizer Inc and Warner Lambert had earlier announced a $90 billion merger to create the world's fastest growing pharma firm with combined annual revenues of about $28 billion.

Parke-Davis is owned 40 per cent by the Warner Lambert Company of the US and its wholly owned subsidiary Parke-Davis & Company of the US.

However, in India, Warner Lambert is the wholly owned arm of Parke-Davis. Pfizer Inc already has a 40 per cent stake in Pfizer India.