Schering-Plough has appointed Gail Thornton to head global communications outside of the U.S. She becomes vice president, global communications, Europe, Canada, Middle East, Africa, Japan, Latin America and Far East regions, reporting to group vice president, global communications Jeffrey Winton. Thornton will head all internal and external relations in those regions, and is charged with building the company’s media and advocacy relations capacity outside the U.S.
Thornton, who most recently worked for Schering-Plough as a consultant, previously headed communications for Pfizer’s neuroscience unit. She joined Pfizer from Pharmacia, where she had headed PR and advocacy development for Europe and Canada and on a number of products. Before that, she spent two decades at Bristol-Myers Squibb.