UPDATE 2-AstraZeneca's new CEO removes R&D, commercial heads

* Mackay and Zook to leave UK's second-biggest drugmaker * New structure removes management layer to speed decisions * Revamp comes ahead of results on Jan. 31, strategic review (Adds analyst comments, further details) By Ben Hirschler LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's new chiefexecutive stamped his authority on the struggling drugmaker onTuesday by removing the heads of research and commercialoperations in a management revamp designed to speeddecision-making. Pascal Soriot, who took the helm at Britain's second-biggestpharmaceutical company in October, said the roles held by MartinMackay and Tony Zook respectively had been eliminated and bothmen would leave the company at the end of January. Instead, Soriot is creating three senior research anddevelopment (R&D) roles responsible for discovery and earlystage development in small molecules, biologics and late-stagedevelopment. On the commercial side, three positions will in futurerepresent the different regions. A further senior role - to befilled at a later date - will oversee the global portfolio andproduct strategy, bridging the R&D and sales organisations. The move effectively strips out a layer of senior managementand means executives in charge of different divisions will havea seat at the executive top table - something Soriot hopes willreduce bureaucracy. "This new senior executive team structure, that drawsheavily from the leadership talent within the company, enablesus to bring an even sharper management focus to key pipelineassets, key brands and key markets, and helps us furtheraccelerate decision-making," Soriot said. The former Roche executive is striving to returnAstraZeneca to health in the face of one of the industry'ssteepest patent "cliffs" - when patents expire and drugs facegeneric competition. He is expected to set out his ideas for the group when hepresents full-year results on Jan. 31, before delivering fulldetails of an in-depth strategy review during a meeting foranalysts and investors in March. CLEARING THE DECKS "He is clearing the decks," said Navid Malik, an analyst atCenkos Securities. "But it is a surprise to see Mackay leaving. He was aone-time head of research at Pfizer, so he's aheavy-hitter brought on board to solve problems and he hasn'treally had a lot of time to do that." Mackay jumped ship from Pfizer, the world's biggestdrugmaker, to AstraZeneca in May 2010. Malik said AstraZeneca's decision to give biologic productsan equal ranking with traditional small molecule drugs in theR&D structure reflect a renewed focus on biotech treatments,which are increasingly seen as the future of modern medicine. Soriot himself has extensive experience of the biologicsside of the industry from his time at Roche, where he headed upits Genentech biotech unit. His first decision on taking office was to suspend sharebuybacks, prompting immediate speculation that he will embark onmore acquisitions to replace lost revenue. But he is also likelyto re-focus both R&D and marketing operations in a bid to makethe most of existing assets. The company is not alone in facing big patent losses, butwhile rivals like GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi have now put the worst behind them, AstraZeneca still has theworst to come. Its two biggest selling drugs - Nexium for stomach acid andthe cholesterol fighter Crestor - will lose U.S. protection in2014 and 2016. Soriot's new line-up for the key R&D functions will see MenePangalos take over as head of innovative medicines, with BahijaJallal responsible for biologic drug development at theMedImmune unit, and Briggs Morrison heading up global medicinesdevelopment. (Additional Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing byJane Merriman and David Cowell)