Roche names new Pharma CEO

Daniel O'Day, chief executive of Roche Pharmaceuticals and member of the Roche (ROG: SIX) corporate executive committee, will be stepping down from his role as of December 31, 2018.

Until the end of February 2019 and prior to assuming new responsibilities outside of Roche, he will provide his support to ensure a smooth transition of activities. Mr O’Day will take over the role of chairman and chief executive of US biotech Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) on March 1, 2019.

The news saw Roche’s shares dip 0.58% to 249.25 Swiss francs by mid-morning trading.

William (Bill) Anderson, currently CEO of the Swiss pharma giant’s Genentech subsidiary, will be appointed CEO Roche Pharmaceuticals effective January 1, 2019. He will be based in Basel, report to Severin Schwan, Roche Group CEO and become a member of the corporate executive committee.

Roche's CEO Severin Schwan said: "Dan has had an outstanding 31-year career at Roche and has played a key role in bringing a large number of new, innovative medicines to patients. Roche today has one of the strongest pipelines of medicines in the industry and is well positioned to shape digitalisation in healthcare. We are very grateful for all of Dan's contributions." Mr Schwan added: "I am very pleased that with Bill Anderson we are appointing a new CEO of our Pharmaceuticals Division with an impressive track record. Bill brings both in-depth knowledge of our industry and extensive global leadership experience."

Bill Anderson joined Roche in 2006 leading the immunology business unit in Genentech and then took responsibility for oncology sales and marketing. In 2013, he was appointed head of global product strategy based in Basel before assuming his current role as CEO of Genentech in 2017.