Roche Diagnostics CEO Severin Schwan will succeed Franz Humer as CEO of Roche at the annual shareholder meeting on March 4, 2008, as part of a strategy to separate the chairman and CEO roles, the company said in a July 19 announcement, coinciding with the pharma giant's first-half 2007 sales and earnings release.

"In view of the increasing complexity of the tasks involved, the board has decided to separate the chairman and CEO roles," the company said in a statement. Humer will remain in his role as chairman, a position he has held since 2001.

As CEO of the diagnostics division, 40-year-old Schwan is leading Roche's $3 billion hostile takeover of Ventana Medical Systems, an acquisition aimed at providing the company with platform technology for tissue-based diagnostic tests to pair with targeted cancer drugs.

When the bid was announced June 25, Schwan said the combination would deliver diagnostics to identify patient responses to treatments, offering more targeted and differentiated medicines to patients. The exec has also led several other acquisitions in the diagnostics unit during the first half of the year, including 454 Life Sciences and BioVeris.

The management change also reflects a generational hand-off of authority, 61-year-old Humer said during the first-half call.

"We have a next generation of managers coming along," he said. "We wanted on purpose also to make again the change that looks to the long term, not a transition. Therefore, we went for a generation change."

Roche has had a long tradition of having a combined chairman and CEO. As a result, Humer said the board has clearly defined how the two roles will operate and where responsibilities will lie.

"Very clearly, we looked at inside and considered outside candidates," he said. "In the end, the inside candidate has the enormous strength of knowing the people, knowing the organization, knowing the culture, knowing the history, and in a company like Roche, this is something very important."

Roche's diagnostics unit is a CHF 8.47 billion ($7.28 billion) operation, based on 2006 sales, compared to group sales of CHF 42 billion ($35 billion).

Schwan joined Roche in 1995 as head of finance and administration for Roche Brussels, moving up the ranks to become the head of Asia Pacific for Roche Diagnostics Singapore in 2004. He was appointed CEO of the diagnostics division in 2006. Humer was appointed CEO of Roche in 1998 after heading the pharma division.

Roche also reported strong sales and earnings for the first half, with pharmaceutical sales, including Genentech and Chugai, up 18 percent to CHF 18.27 billion ($15.2 billion). Operating profit in the division jumped 31 percent to CHF 6.64 billion ($5.52 billion). The top-line growth was driven by a 22 percent increase in oncology portfolio sales, Tamiflu (oseltamivir)stockpiling and strong sales of Bonviva / Boniva (ibandronic acid) and Rituxan (rituximab).

-Jessica Merrill (j.merrill@elsevier.com)

Roche Diagnostics Head Schwan To Succeed Humer As CEO In 2008

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