Dr. Soriot leads Genentech as Roche announces organizational changes

Basel, Switzerland

-Pascal Soriot, DVM, MBA, has been named chief executive officer (CEO) of Genentech, leading all of the company’s pharmaceutical activities in the United States and reporting directly to Severin Schwan, Roche Group CEO.

The move was one of several management-related changes that became effective May 1 following the completion of the merger of Roche and Genentech. The commercial headquarters for U.S. operations for the combined company will be located in South San Francisco, CA, necessitating the move of Roche’s U.S. commercial pharmaceutical operations from Nutley, NJ.

Dr. Soriot succeeds Arthur D. Levinson, PhD, who will chair Genentech’s new board of directors, will serve as an adviser to Genentech’s Research and Early Development Center, and will join the Genentech Scientific Resource Board (SRB).

Dr. Soriot formerly was responsible for commercial operations of the pharmaceutical division. This function temporarily will be led by William M. Burns, CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, who is retiring Jan. 1.

Susan Desmond-Hellmann will remain in her role as president of product development for Genentech until mid-year. Thereafter, she will serve as an adviser to Genentech and will join the SRB.

Other announced changes:

George Abercrombie, CEO and president of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., has agreed to support the integration efforts through the end of this year, assisting Dr. Soriot with the transition of the U.S. commercial headquarters.

Hal Barron, formerly senior vice president (SVP) of development and chief medical officer (CMO) for Genentech, is now executive vice president (EVP) and head of global development, responsible for early and late development for three disease biology areas: oncology, immunology/tissue growth repair, and virology.

Ian Clark, formerly EVP of commercial operations for Genentech, is now EVP of global marketing and chief marketing officer of the Roche Pharma division.

David A. Ebersman, EVP and chief financial officer (CFO), and Steve Juelsgaard, EVP, secretary, and chief compliance officer, have left Genentech. Their functions are being fulfilled by five people. Steve Krognes, formerly head of corporate business development for Roche, is now CFO of Genentech and SVP and regional head of finance and IT Pharma North America. Rick Kentz, formerly vice president secretary and legal affairs for Roche Pharma North America, is now SVP secretary and chief compliance officer for the combined organization. Steve Grossmann, formerly VP of human resources, Roche Pharma North America, is now SVP and regional head of human resources, Pharma North America, for the combined organization. Denise Smith-Hams, formerly VP of human resources for Genentech, has been promoted to SVP of Genentech human resources. Christine Castro, formerly VP of corporate relations for Genentech, is now SVP and regional head of public relations, Pharma North America.

Richard Scheller, formerly EVP of research for Genentech, is now leading Genentech’s research and early development function, which is operating as an independent center within the Roche Group. He is reporting directly to Schwan.

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, formerly EVP of research drug discovery for Genentech, is continuing to report to Scheller and succeeds him as EVP of research. Tessier-Lavigne also has been appointed Genentech’s chief scientific officer.

Pat Yang is continuing as EVP of technical operations for Genentech.

Drs. Levinson and Soriot are leading the operational integration team to design the future set-up of the combined company. The company expects to finalize integration plans by mid-year and accomplish them by the end of the year.

Following completion of the integration, Dr. Soriot is expected to resume his responsibilities as head of global pharmaceutical commercial operations as a member of the company’s corporate executive committee.