This comes a bit earlier than may have been expected. The drugmaker’s vice chairman, who spent 31 years at Pfizer, will leave at the end of the year. Of course, Shedlarz wasn’t expected to remain in place indefinitely, either. After spending a decade as cfo, he and former exec vp Karen Katen both lost out to Jeff Kindler in the race to succeed Hank McKinnell as ceo. And he nearly walked out after receiving the bad news.

But Kindler, who needed Shedlarz around to maintain relations with Wall Street, quickly offered him the No. 2 role. And Shedlarz remained visible, in some respects, as a result. He was even quoted just as much as Kindler in key press releases. However, the timing also reflects the arrival of a new cfo, Frank D’Amelio, an experienced cost cutter who was with Alcatel-Lucent and is expected to lead the drugmaker through its ongoing restructuring.

“Jeff is a strong leader who has taken a series of actions — including tough decisions in all areas of the company — to revitalize Pfizer over the past year,” Dave says in a statement. “He is taking the right steps to change the structure of the company in a strategic, disciplined way in order to position Pfizer for success in our changing marketplace.”