McKillop, Tom (1943– )

Scottish executive who is CEO of AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. He became CEO of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1994, which had demerged from ICI in 1993 with ICI's agrochemical and speciality chemical businesses into Zeneca Group. McKillip oversaw Zeneca's £21 billion merger with the Swedish pharmaceuticals group Astra AB in 1999 and, as CEO of AstraZeneca from April 1999, was responsible for integrating the complex cross-border merger of the two companies.

McKillop abandoned the concept of ‘life science companies’; he hived off the agrochemical business, merging with Novartis to form Syngenta, having earlier sold the speciality chemical business in order to focus on AstraZeneca's core pharmaceutical activity. With the imminent patent expiry in 2001 of its market leading anti-ulcer drug, Losec, McKillop has been concentrating on developing new pharmaceutical products.

He has also been a non-executive director of Nycomed Amersham since 1992 and Lloyds TSB since 1994. His other external appointments include pro-chancellor of Leicester University, and chairman of the British Pharma Group.

Born in Glasgow, the son of a miner, McKillop received a BSc (Hons) and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Glasgow. Returning from subsequent studies in Paris in 1968, he was about to start an academic career teaching theoretical chemistry, but instead was persuaded to join ICI's Corporate Research Laboratory in 1969.

McKillop rose steadily, moving to the ICI Pharmaceutical Division, where he held a number of positions and became technical director with international responsibility for research, development, and production in 1989. He was executive director of the Zeneca Group (demerged from ICI) in 1993, CEO of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1994, and was made CEO designate of ZenecaAstra in 1998 to oversee the merger.