Bill Anderson appointed Bayer CEO

Bill Anderson has been appointed CEO of Bayer, effective June 1.

He will join the company as a member of the Board of Management on April 1.

Current CEO Werner Baumann will work closely with Anderson on a smooth transition before retiring from Bayer after 35 years of service at the end of May.

Anderson is a chemical engineer by education and has served in various leadership positions in the life science industry over the past 25 years.

Most recently, he served as CEO of Roche’s Pharmaceuticals Division.

Before that, Anderson was CEO of pioneering biotech company, Genentech.

Prof Dr Norbert Winkeljohann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG

“We are very excited to welcome Bill Anderson as new CEO of Bayer.

“He is the ideal candidate to lead Bayer together with the team into a new, successful chapter at a time of a disruptive innovation cycle in biology, chemistry and artificial intelligence.

“Bill has an outstanding track record of building strong product pipelines and turning biotech breakthroughs into products.”

Bill Anderson held several senior leadership positions in general management, product development and finance at Biogen, as well as American technology and electronic company Raychem.

During his time at Biogen, Genentech and Roche, the new Bayer CEO was involved in the development and launch of 25 new medicines, including 15 blockbusters.

Bill Anderson said:

“Bayer is an innovative company that is already delivering tremendous benefits for the nutrition, health and environmental protection of the world.

“Its leading R&D investments in agriculture, medicines and consumer health hold the promise for additional breakthroughs.

“I look forward to working with the people of Bayer to accelerate innovation, increase performance, advance sustainability and unleash the full potential of the company.”