Bill Anderson will replace Baumann as Bayer CEO

Just weeks after Roche pharma chief Bill Anderson resigned to seek other opportunities elsewhere, he has been named as the new chief executive of Bayer, replacing Werner Baumann who is standing down in June.

The appointment of Anderson comes as Bayer has been under pressure from investors to replace Baumann, who has been under fire since he spearheaded the acquisition of agrochemical company Monsanto for $63 billion, exposing the group to multibillion-dollar litigation over allegations exposure to its Roundup herbicide causes cancer.

Last year, there were reports in the German media that Bayer chair Norbert Winkeljohann was hoping to find a new candidate in time to present to shareholders at the group's next annual general meeting, which will be held in April.

Anderson – who worked for Roche for 16 years before leaving the company, initially joining the company's Genentech unit in 2006 – will join Bayer's board on 1st April and take up the CEO role on 1st June. Shares in the German pharma and chemicals group rose 6% after the appointment was announced.

"We are very excited to welcome Bill Anderson as new CEO of Bayer," said Winkeljohann. "He is the ideal candidate to lead Bayer, together with the team, into a new, successful chapter at a time of a disruptive innovation cycle in biology, chemistry, and artificial intelligence."

The chair also pointed to Anderson's "outstanding track record of building strong product pipelines and turning biotech breakthroughs into products."

Baumann has been at the helm of Bayer since May 2016, when he took over from Marijn Dekkers, and has spent his entire career at Bayer, rising through the ranks of the company. His contract with Bayer was not scheduled to end until April 2024.

He survived a no-confidence vote called by shareholders in 2019, as well as a second attempt to force a change in senior management by investors Temasek and Alatus Capital last year.

Two prominent investors in Bayer who had been agitating for a change in management - Union Investment and Deka – have welcomed the change, saying the appointment of an external figure would add "momentum" to the group's strategy, according to a Reuters report.

There have long been calls for Bayer to follow the lead of other big pharma companies that have traditionally had a diversified business model – such as Novartis and GSK – and separate out its current pharma, agrochemical, and consumer health units.