Key figures move up the ladder at Bayer Schering Pharma

From September, Andreas Fibia, currently a senior vice president at US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer will become chairman of the board of management of Bayer Schering Pharma (BSP).

In addition, Dr Bernd Metzner, head of finance at Bayer S.p.A., Italy, will assume responsibility for Central Administration and Organization (CAO) at the company from 1 October. Arthur Higgins, the existing chairman of the BSP's board of management of BSP and Werner Baumann current CAO head for BSP, will return to focusing on their primary roles as chairman and ceo of the Bayer HealthCare subgroup and head of BHC CAO respectively. Both Higgins and Baumann have performed dual functions at BHC and BSP since Bayer's acquisition of the former Schering AG in 2006.

"The integration of Schering into the Bayer Group has been largely completed," said Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of management of Bayer AG and Supervisory Board Chairman of Bayer Schering Pharma. "In the initial phase it was very important for Mr. Higgins and Mr. Baumann to play leading roles in the merger of the activities, in addition to their primary duties at Bayer HealthCare. However, because it was originally planned that these dual roles would be provisional, both gentlemen will now refocus on their leadership functions at Bayer HealthCare. I am confident that in Andreas Fibig, we have found a manager with much international experience who will lead BSP toward a successful future."

In the future, Higgins will focus on leading Bayer HealthCare and driving the company forward. In addition to Bayer Schering Pharma, this Bayer subgroup also comprises the Animal Health, Consumer Care and Diabetes Care divisions.