Bristol Myers Squibb didn’t want to choose between clinical expertise and financial know-how when selecting a new leader. The Big Pharma has hired physician-turned-analyst Chris Shibutani, M.D., as executive vice president and chief strategy officer, BMS announced in a June 9 LinkedIn post.
In this role, Shibutani will be in charge of long-term strategy, including the pharma giant’s approach to external partnerships and institutional collaborations, according to BMS.
Shibutani has spent the last 25 years or so scrutinizing the industry as a financial analyst, including most recently as a senior analyst and managing director for biotech equity research at Goldman Sachs. Before that, he held the same job title at TD Cowen.
Earlier on in his career, Shibutani practiced for close to five years as an anesthesiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. While practicing, he also served as a clinical instructor at Cornell University’s medical school. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University, and followed that up with a Master's of Business Administration from Columbia Business School several years later.
Because of his background, Shibutani “brings invaluable frontline clinical perspective to his strategic vision,” according to the BMS LinkedIn post.
Shibutani’s appointment follows a trend of Big Pharmas turning to Wall Street for strategic visionaries. In 2022, Novartis tapped former Sanford Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal, Ph.D., to head up corporate strategy. Pfizer followed suit in 2024, bringing veteran Citi analyst Andrew Baum on board as chief strategy and innovation officer.
But these three men also share expertise outside of financial forecasting and spreadsheet management. Like Shibutani, Baum has a medical background and Gal holds a doctorate in biochemistry.