Bayer Announces New Management Organization

The Supervisory Board of Bayer AG has approved a proposed reorganization of the company’s Board of Management following Bayer’s decision to focus the company on its life sciences businesses and the economic and legal separation of Covestro, the material sciences business of Bayer. The German chemical conglomerate first announced in September 2014 that it would demerge its material science business and float it as a separate company, now called Covestro, leaving the strategic focus of Bayer on its life sciences businesses, which include pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare, and crop science. Bayer intends to float Covestro on the stock market by mid-2016 at the latest.

From January 1, 2016, the company's business will be managed by three divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Crop Science. The present structure of a strategic management holding company and operational subgroups will be replaced by an integrated organization under the umbrella of the Bayer brand. In the new organization, the Board of Management of Bayer AG will also hold overall responsibility for business operations. The Supervisory Board has appointed the following heads of the three divisions to the Board of Management, effective January 1, 2016: Dieter Weinand (Pharmaceuticals), Erica Mann (Consumer Health), and Liam Condon (Crop Science). Also on January 1, 2016, Dr. Hartmut Klusik will also join the Board of Management of Bayer AG as the new labor director and board member responsible for human resources, technology, and sustainability. He will succeed Michael König, who has requested that his contract not be extended.

As part of the reorganization, the Bayer HealthCare subgroup will be dissolved. The Radiology business will be assigned to the Pharmaceuticals Division. Consumer Health will comprise the present Consumer Care Division. The Bayer CropScience subgroup will become the Crop Science Division. As a business unit, Animal Health will report directly to Liam Condon.

The divisions are to focus on core competencies close to their businesses: research and development, production, and sales and marketing. They will be supported by integrated functions, such as human resources and procurement, and by global services. Within this context, Bayer's existing Technology Services company will become the engineering and technology function. Bayer Business Services, the company in which information technology and business support services are bundled, will remain a separate legal entity that is to see further expansion. This greater integration will also be reflected in Bayer's brand architecture. In the future, the company will focus exclusively on the Bayer corporate brand and its product brands. The divisions will not have separate brand identities.

Despite the organizational changes, in a statement, Bayer said it expects its job numbers to remain stable in the years ahead, both worldwide and in Germany. In a joint declaration issued by management and the employee representatives, key principles relating to the organizational changes have been defined. “We expressly welcome the fact that the subgroups and Bayer Technology Services are being reintegrated under the roof of Bayer AG. Our joint declaration guarantees continued security, trust and motivation for the employees,” said Oliver Zühlke, chairman of the Central Works Council of Bayer AG, in a statement.”We have also been able to bring about a return to the collective agreement of the German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) for our colleagues at Bayer Business Services.”

The future product portfolio of the Pharmaceuticals Division brings together prescription medicines from the general medicine and specialty pharmaceuticals categories and also the Radiology business. The Consumer Health Division will encompass consumer brands from the allergy, analgesic, cardiovascular risk prevention, cough, cold and flu, dermatology, foot care, gastrointestinal, dietary supplement, and sun protection categories. The Crop Science Division, Bayer's agriculture business, is active in the seed, chemical and biological crop protection and non-agricultural pest control markets. Animal Health provides products and solutions to prevent and treat diseases in companion and farm animals.

Effective January 1, 2016, the Board of Management of Bayer AG will comprise eight members headed by Chairman Dr. Marijn Dekkers. Johannes Dietsch will be responsible for finance; Werner Baumann will oversee strategy and portfolio management; and Kemal Malik will have responsibility for Innovation. Michael König will be leaving the company at his own request on expiration of his contract. Dr. Hartmut Klusik, currently responsible for product supply on the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare AG, will be the new labor director and Board member responsible for human resources, technology, and sustainability. As part of the reorganization, the Board of Management areas for innovation and technology will be additionally strengthened. The Board of Management will also be enlarged to include the three divisional heads: Dieter Weinand (headquartered in Berlin, Germany), Erica Mann (headquartered in the future in Basel, Switzerland) and Liam Condon (headquartered in Monheim, Germany).

Dieter Weinand was appointed to the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee as head of the Pharmaceuticals Division on August 1, 2014. Before moving to Bayer HealthCare, he was president, global commercialization & portfolio management at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Prior to that, he held various responsibilities in commercial, operational and strategic roles at a number of pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Erica Mann was appointed to the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee as head of the Consumer Care Division in mid-March 2011. She also chairs the World Self Medication Industry Association. Before joining Bayer, her roles included managing director of Wyeth in Australia and New Zealand from 2003. In April 2009, she became senior vice president for the global nutrition business. Following the acquisition of Wyeth by Pfizer, Mann moved to the United States, where she was president and general manager of Pfizer's Nutrition Division and a member of that company's senior management team.

Liam Condon has been chairman of the Executive Committee of Bayer CropScience and chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG since December 1, 2012. Prior to that, he held various positions of increasing responsibility for Bayer's Pharmaceuticals Division in Europe and Asia. In January 2010, Condon was appointed managing director of Bayer HealthCare Germany and head of Bayer's Pharmaceuticals business in Germany. Condon is a member of the Board of Directors of CropLife International.

Dr. Hartmut Klusik was appointed to the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee on July 5, 2005 and is responsible for product supply at Bayer HealthCare. He is also a member of the management boards of Bayer HealthCare AG and Bayer Pharma AG. Klusik began his career at Bayer's former Wolff Walsrode AG subsidiary in 1984, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility. In 1990, he transferred to Bayer AG and was appointed head of crop protection production in Brazil. This was followed by assignments in the United States and Australia. In 1997, Klusik took charge of crop protection active ingredient production in Dormagen and, in 2002, became head of active ingredient production for Bayer CropScience in Monheim. In early 2005, he was appointed head of the Technical Operations Committee at Bayer HealthCare.

Source: Bayer AG

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