Karen Katen (born 1948, St. Louis, MO) is an American pharmaceutical executive who spent most of her career with Pfizer, rising eventually to Vice-Chairman of the company and President of the pharmaceuticals division.[1]

Karen Katen
Born1948
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
OccupationPharmaceutical executive

Career edit

Katen received a B.A. in political science and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1970-1974.[2] She joined Pfizer in 1974, and steadily rose through the ranks, becoming President of Pharmaceuticals in 1995.[3] Launches by Pfizer during her tenure included Lipitor and Viagra.[2]During her leadership, Pfizer’s U.S. Pharmaceuticals Group achieved record financial performance each ear, with 1999 revenues over $9.2 billion. Following this, with Pfizer’s acquisition of Warner Lambert, Katen managed the largest integration in the history of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.[2]

During the early 2000s, Katen was one of three Vice-Chairmen widely speculated to vie for the CEO position when then-CEO Henry "Hank" McKinnell Jr. was set to retire.[4] When Jeffrey Kindler was instead named CEO in 2006, Katen chose to leave the company.

Since 2006, Katen's interests have shifted to service on multiple Boards of Directors; she currently sits on the boards of The Home Depot, Air Liquide, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and several charitable causes.

Awards edit

  • 2003 - Sixth Most Powerful Woman in Business, Fortune magazine
  • 2002 - 25 Top Executives, BusinessWeek[5]
  • 1990 - Inaugural Healthcare Businesswoman's Association "Woman of the Year"[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "EW Healthcare Partners Team - Karen Katen". www.ewhealthcare.com. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  2. ^ a b c "Karen L. Katen, AB '70, MBA '74". Chicago Booth. 1 June 2000. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Karen L. Katen". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  4. ^ "Inside Pfizer's palace coup". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  5. ^ "Karen Katen 1948— Biography - College and early professional direction, A solid record of achievement". www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  6. ^ "1990 WOTY Karen Katen—Setting the stage for inspiring stories and innovation | HBA". www.hbanet.org. Retrieved 2018-10-28.