Galenica Group strengthens management team

Stefan Schulze has been appointed as chief operating officer and president of the executive committee of Vifor Pharma, part of the Switzerland-based Galenica Group.

Currently chief executive of Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (VFMCRP), Schulze (pictured right) will take up his new roles in May 2017 reporting to Etienne Jornod, executive chairman of the board of directors.

Schulze has led VFMCRP since 2014, and previously held a number of senior positions at the firm including executive vice president of sales and marketing, and senior vice president of business development at Fresenius Medical Care for North America and Germany.

Jornod said: “We took the time needed to evaluate several candidates.

“One alternative would have been to choose an outstanding pharma specialist, but one who was not familiar with the 'close access to patients' model, or to bring a manager who knows Vifor Pharma very well and comes precisely from this area.

“We opted for these variant because of the excellent knowledge Stefan Schulze brings to further developing the business model of Vifor Pharma.”

Meanwhile Felix Burkhard (pictured above, left) has been appointed as chief financial officer of the Galenica Group from 1 January 2017, succeeding Jörg Kneubühler who becomes chief executive officer of Galenica Santé.

Burkhard joined the Galenica Group in 1996 as corporate controller of Galenica, taking responsibility for implementing its retail strategy in 2000 before becoming head of retail business in 2010.

Currently, Burkhard serves as head of strategic projects for the Galenica Group with a remit to manage the preparations for the upcoming division of the group. Once this split has taken place, Burkhard will carry his promotion as chief financial officer of Galenica Group over to Galenica Santé.

Kneubühler (picture bottom, right) joined Galenica in 2002 and has been chief financial officer of the group since 2012. From 2014 he has also served as the newly-created chief executive officer of Galenica Santé in anticipation of the group division, which he will focus on in his new role.