The French boss of AstraZeneca has been given a knighthood for his part in helping develop a coronavirus vaccine.
Sir Pascal Soriot, who was born in France but now lives with his wife and two children in Australia, said he was ‘truly humbled’ to receive the honour.
Humbled: Sir Pascal received the award for services to UK life sciences and the response to coronavirus
The 63-year-old, who spends much of his time in Britain, where AstraZeneca is based, said: ‘Growing up in France, I had many dreams and hopes for the future, but I never thought I would receive a knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen.’
Sir Pascal received the award for services to UK life sciences and the response to coronavirus. AstraZeneca developed a Covid vaccine alongside Oxford University that was approved in 2020.
The jab was used extensively across the UK and helped reduce the number of people admitted to hospital.
Sir Pascal has been chief executive of AstraZeneca since 2012. He made his name early on in his tenure by fighting off a £80billion takeover bid by US rival Pfizer in 2014. AstraZeneca is now valued at over £160billion.
