Grünenthal's painless path to growth

In October 2016, Gabriel Baertschi left his role as president and general manager of AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) in Japan to take the top job at Germany’s Grünenthal Group.

On doing so, he set out to transform both Grünenthal’s growth and the treatment of pain across multiple indications for patients in need around the world.

Five years on, Grünenthal has made huge strides towards achieving those ambitions, and Mr Baertschi’s strategy has been vindicated by investors who have jumped at the chance to drive forward the company’s agenda of investing in and bringing out drugs in pain, and growing the business from a geographic footprint point of view.