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ZURICH, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said three members of its executive committee wouldleave the company following the completion of transactions withGlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly to divest threeunits.
Novartis agreed on a series of deals worth over $25 billionin April, which include hiving off three smaller units - animalhealth, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and vaccines. It said thesedivisions lacked the global scale to compete in what itdescribed as a "brutal" new world of healthcare spending.
As part of the overhaul, Novartis is selling its animalhealth business to Eli Lilly for $5.4 billion and itsvaccines excluding flu to GSK for $7.1 billion. It will alsoform a joint venture with GSK for its OTC unit.
Last week, EU antitrust regulators approved Lilly's purchaseof the animal health division.
On Wednesday, Novartis said the head of that unit GeorgeGunn, who will reach retirement age next July, will leave theexecutive committee once the deal is concluded in the firstquarter of next year.
Brian McNamara, who currently heads Novartis' OTC division,will move to GSK and become head of Americas and Europe for theconsumer health business on completion of the GSK deal, whileAndrin Oswald, division head of Novartis Vaccines, will leavethe company.
Novartis expects its transaction with GSK to close in thefirst half of next year. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Caroline Copley.; Editing byStephen Coates and Jane Baird)