Andreas Fibig, currently a senior vice president at US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer, has been appointed chairman of the board of management of Bayer Schering Pharma (BSP) effective September 1, 2008. The decision was made at a meeting of the company's supervisory board on July 24, 2008. In addition, Dr. Bernd Metzner, currently head of finance at Bayer S.p.A., Italy, will assume responsibility for Central Administration and Organization (CAO) at Bayer Schering Pharma effective October 1, 2008.
In this context, Arthur Higgins, the current chairman of the board of management of BSP, and Werner Baumann, current CAO head for BSP, will return to focusing on their primary roles as chairman and CEO of the Bayer HealthCare subgroup and head of BHC CAO respectively. Both Higgins and Baumann have performed dual functions at BHC and BSP since Bayer's acquisition of the former Schering AG in 2006.
"The integration of Schering into the Bayer Group has been largely completed," explained Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of management of Bayer AG and supervisory board chairman of Bayer Schering Pharma. "In the initial phase it was very important for Higgins and Baumann to play leading roles in the merger of the activities, in addition to their primary duties at Bayer HealthCare. However, because it was originally planned that these dual roles would be provisional, both gentlemen will now refocus on their leadership functions at Bayer HealthCare. I am confident that in Andreas Fibig, we have found a manager with much international experience who will lead BSP toward a successful future."
In the future, Arthur Higgins will focus on leading Bayer HealthCare and driving the company forward. In addition to Bayer Schering Pharma, this Bayer subgroup also comprises the animal health, consumer care and diabetes care divisions.
"Bayer HealthCare is outstandingly well positioned in all its fields of business," Higgins commented. "Following the successful integration, Bayer Schering Pharma has shown stable growth: Our OTC business is now the global number two; Diabetes Care has been successfully realigned and is growing well above market; and our Animal Health business is among the most profitable in the industry. The appointments of Andreas Fibig as the new head of the global pharmaceuticals business and of Bernd Metzner as a new member of the BSP board of management add two excellent managers to our leadership team."