Tag Archives: Roche

Franz Replacing Humer at Roche Next Year

New Chairman of Roche, Christoph Franz
New Chairman of Roche, Christoph Franz

Pharmaceutical giant and the world’s largest producer of anti-cancer drugs, Roche Holding AG, is hiring the chief executive officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Christoph Franz. He will be taking the place of Chairman Franz Humer beginning next year.

The nomination of Franz will be presented to the shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting to be held on March 4, 2014. Franz’s contract with Lufthansa will end on May 31.
The outgoing chairman, Humer, has led Roche for over ten years, is given the credit for leading Roche’s unique strategy of coupling its diagnostics and drugs groups together to create boutique medications which can be targeted to individual patients.

Humer is 67, and was CEO when Roche purchased a 30 percent stake in the US biotech company Genentech Inc in 1999. Ten years later Humer helped to oversee the complete takeover of the company as chairman. The buyout allowed Roche to acquire its best-selling oncology drugs Rituxan and Herceptin. Herceptin is the company’s flagship “personalized” tumor treatment. It is an anti-breast cancer medication which is teamed up with a diagnostic test which reveals which women it is most likely to help.

Christoph Franz is 53 and has been the CEO of Lufthansa since 2011. Before that he was the CEO of Swiss International Airlines.

Arthur Levinson Named New Apple Chairman

Until now the co-director of the board at Apple Inc, Arthur Levinson will take over the chairmanship in the wake of the death of the former CEO, Steve Jobs.

Apple also chose Bob Iger, CEO of Disney and former close friend of Jobs to a seat on the board.

“Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a prepared statement. “Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition.”

Levinson has been a member of the board at Apple since 2005, making him the longest-serving director. He is also the chairman of the board at Genentech, the biotech drum company, and a board member at Roche Pharmaceuticals. Until 2009 when Levinson stepped down, he was the CEO at Genentech for 14 years.

“Apple is always focused on out-innovating itself through the delivery of truly innovative products that simplify and improve our lives, and that is something I am very proud to be a part of,” Levinson said Tuesday in a statement.