Bayer has appointed Bill Anderson, formerly CEO of Roche’s Pharmaceutical Division, to become CEO (Chairman of the Board of Management) of Bayer, effective June 1, 2023. Anderson will succeed Werner Baumann, currently Bayer’s Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO), who will retire at the end of May 2023 after being with the company for 35 years and who will assist in the leadership transition. Anderson will join Bayer as a member of the Board of Management on April 1, 2023 and assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO) on June 1, 2023.

Anderson has served in various leadership positions in the life-sciences industry over the past 25 years. Most recently, he served as CEO of Roche’s Pharmaceuticals Division. Before this role. he was CEO of Roche’s Genentech. He joined Genentech in 2010, eventually serving as Senior Vice President in the company’s BioOncology Unit. He left this role in 2013 to join Roche Pharmaceuticals, the parent company of Genentech, as Head of Global Product Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer. After serving in this position until 2016, he moved back to Genentech to assume the position of Head of North American Operations before becoming CEO of the company in 2017. In 2019, he became of CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Anderson held several senior leadership positions in general management, product development, and finance at Biogen, and Raychem, a US-based technology and electronics company.  

During his time at Biogen, Genentech, and Roche, Anderson was involved in the development and launch of 25 new medicines, including 15 blockbusters. In addition to the US, Anderson has lived and worked in several European countries with postings in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. In his new role with Bayer,, he will be based in Leverkusen, Germany. 

Source: Bayer