AstraZeneca faces calls for shake-up Some of the biggest investors in AstraZeneca are calling for a radical shake-up of the board and executive team, as a new chairman prepares to join the underperforming Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group. With the company trading on the lowest price/earnings multiple in the sector, some large shareholders have been lobbying to replace David Brennan as chief executive and push for a fresh business strategy. Their action comes as Leif Johansson seeks formal election as chairman at the annual general meeting later this month. AstraZeneca's top 20 investors have become unusually and increasingly vocal in recent weeks, with one telling the Financial Times: "The chief executive is under intense pressure." He suggested that there was some lobbying to replace him with Simon Lowth, finance director. Another said that Mr Lowth lacked the breadth to take over, but Mr Brennan was likely to step down by the time of his 60th birthday next year. "The board will probably step in and take a new strategic direction because the company is in a downward spiral," he said. Tony Zook, global commercial vice-president, has also been cited as a possible replacement, although he comes from a similar marketing background to Mr Brennan. Jack Scannell, an analyst with Bernstein Research, said: "You don't need a lawyer or a marketing person. You either need Attila the Hun - a total butcher - to run it down until it can be bought, or a Paul Janssen-like figure: a successful scientist who can really take on the research team. His company argued in a note last month that AstraZeneca was likely to make a midsized acquisition. "Our belief is that the status quo is not sustainable," it wrote. Desperate times may lead to outwardly appearing desperate actions. Mr Brennan has stressed the company is reluctant to undertake even midsized deals and will instead focus on acquisitions closer to about $1bn. A big shareholder in the company told the FT that new deals were "unthinkable" until a top tier management team had been brought in to develop a coherent and credible strategy for the group. A third investor said that the group had to address the failure to deliver any return on investments in acquisitions, in-licensing and internal research and development over more than a decade. He called on the incoming chairman to bring in new management "which could change the group's direction and address shareholders" frustration at the long-running failures." Another top 20 shareholder said he was calling on the group to sell itself. "Otherwise," he said, "the group is destined to be cheap forever."