AstraZeneca has unveiled details of the remuneration package for new chief executive Pascal Soriot which includes up to £4 million in shares, reflecting loss of earnings from former employer Roche.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker says the bonus is "compensation for the loss of his long-term incentives" from Roche, where Dr Soriot (pictured) worked most recently  as chief operating officer of the latter's pharmaceutical unit. Getting to that £4 million mark is dependent on the achievement of certain targets, including "existing performance hurdles".

Dr Soriot's base salary will be £1.1 million and he will be entitled to a bonus of up to 180% of that figure, with an annual target of 100%, the company said. The Frenchman is also in line for annual long-term incentive awards of 250% of base salary.

Dr Soriot officially took over at the helm at the beginning of October from  Simon Lowth, AstraZeneca’s chief financial officer and interim chief executive after David Brennan left in May, amid pressure from disgruntled shareholders. He began by cancelling the firm's share buyback programme but observers are waiting to see Dr Soriot's plans for dealing with the company's underwhelming late-stage pipeline at a time when revenues are being battered by key patent expiries eg to the Seroquel (quetiapine) antipsychotic franchise.