BASEL, Switzerland — Making changes to its Pharmaceuticals Division, Novartis has created two business units that will report to the chief executive officer: Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Oncology.

The new units will form the Innovative Medicines Division. Novartis said Tuesday that the new structure reflects the importance of oncology following the integration of oncology assets acquired from GlaxoSmithKline.

Novartis noted that the move will sharpen the focus and execution of Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals on their respective businesses, in turn driving our growth and innovation at the company.

Paul Hudson has been named as CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Bruno Strigini as CEO of Novartis Oncology. Both will report directly to Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez and join the company’s executive committee effective July 1.

Hudson comes to Novartis from AstraZeneca, where he was executive vice president for North America and a member of the Executive Committee.

Strigini, currently head of Novartis Oncology, will lead the Novartis Oncology business unit, comprised of the franchises Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapies. He joined Novartis in 2014 from Merck & Co. to lead the oncology business and was instrumental in the integration of the oncology assets acquired from GSK, Novartis noted.

Both Hudson and Strigini will be based at the global headquarters of the Innovative Medicines Division in Basel, Switzerland.

With the changes, David Epstein, currently division head and CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, has decided to leave the company to “explore new challenges from the U.S.,” according to Novartis.

“We would like to thank David for his substantial contribution to the development and growth of Novartis and its people over many years. He built our leading oncology business and over the last six years has steered our Pharmaceuticals Division through a period of excellence in innovation, execution and improved financial results,” Jimenez stated. “Over the course of his career, he and his teams have been responsible for leading the development and commercialization of an industry-leading number of new medicines, including groundbreaking therapies such as Glivec, Gilenya, Cosentyx and Entresto.”

Going forward from July 1, Novartis will have three customer-facing divisions: Innovative Medicines (formerly the Novartis Pharmaceuticals division), which will include the Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Oncology business units; Sandoz, the generics and biosimilar division, which includes the retail generics, anti-infectives and biopharmaceuticals franchises; and Alcon, the eye care devices division, which includes the surgical and vision care franchises.

The divisions will be supported by Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Global Drug Development and Novartis Operations, which includes Technical Operations and Novartis Business Services.