Galenica : Vifor Pharma strengthens company management – division of Galenica to take place once the new management is in place01

Vifor Pharma strengthens company management - division of Galenica to take place once the new management is in place

Tuesday, 24 May 2016, ↓ directly to download

Vifor Pharma to further strengthen company management to ensure continued strong growth.
The Galenica Group will be divided once the new CEO of Vifor Pharma has been appointed and settled into their role.

Vifor Pharma has reached a new phase in recent months and will become even more dynamic in the future. Net sales of Ferinject increased by almost 50% year-on-year in the first four months of 2016. Further licensing and commercialisation agreements were also concluded during the first few months of the year. The most recent example is the licensing and commercialisation agreement with Pfizer for Retacrit™ for the US dialysis market which will allow Vifor Pharma to exclusively offer a second EPO in the USA in addition to Roche's Mircera. This opens up the opportunity for Vifor Pharma to achieve an important position in the US EPO market in the medium term.

In order to optimally exploit this very strong momentum and to further develop the relationships with the international partners, the Galenica Board of Directors has decided to further strengthen the management of Vifor Pharma by appointing a new CEO and the recruitment process has been initiated. The current CEO, Søren Tulstrup, will pursue his career outside the company. Vifor Pharma will be headed by the Vice-CEO, Gianni Zampieri, on an interim basis.

Upon the express wishes of the Galenica Board of Directors, the largest shareholders and its key partner Fresenius Medical Care, Etienne Jornod has decided to abandon his decision to hand over the management of Vifor Pharma following the division. He will remain for an unlimited period of time with Vifor Pharma as Executive Chairman and will support the long-term realisation of the projects he initiated.

Due to the change in management at Vifor Pharma, the division of the Group will take place once the new CEO has been appointed and settled into their role at Vifor Pharma. Hence, the division will be postponed by six to twelve months at the latest. Galenica anticipates that the division will be completed no later than the end of 2017. The preparatory work for the division is on track and continues to move ahead.

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Galenica is a diversified Group active throughout the healthcare market which, among other activities, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products, runs pharmacies, provides logistical and database services and sets up networks. With its two Business units Vifor Pharma and Galenica Santé, the Galenica Group enjoys a leading position in all its core business activities. A large part of the Group's income is generated by international operations. Galenica is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, GALN, security number 1,553,646).