That appears to be what Dan is now thinking, according to slightly cryptic remarks he made to reporters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the other day where he was announcing a new research deal between Novartis and MIT.

“My thoughts on this are that in both models you see successes and failures and it would be a mistake to believe there is only one model for success,” he said. Moreover, he doesn’t plan to step down any time soon, Reuters reports. At one time, he had spoken of 2008 as his departure date and just two months ago, there was a report in a Swiss newspaper that Vasella may propose that Joerg Reinhardt, who is currently head of vaccines and diagnostics, as his successor.

But Dan now says any thoughts of departure were based on a rule the company once had that directors should only serve for 12 years. That rule was implemented because a majority of the board had been elected the same time and therefore would have been required to leave en masse, and it was abandoned a few years ago, Vasella said.

Vasella, who has headed Novartis since 1996, when the drugmaker was formed through the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, says he “still has lots of ideas and energy” and shareholders have in any case elected him to another three-year term.

Vasella has come under fire from some shareholders for holding both top jobs amid an ongoing debate in Switzerland as to whether a ceo involved in day-to-day company activities can also succeed as chairman. Some analysts believe the decision by cross-town rival Roche to split the top jobs will put pressure on Vasella to follow suit.

But Vasella said that just because something might be “fashionable” does not necessarily make it right for Novartis. “In a succession or merger situation you may have a different model than if you are stable,” he said.