Bayer appoints Marianne De Backer Head of Pharmaceuticals Business Development & Licensing and Member of Executive Committee

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Sep 03, 2019, 08:22 ET

BERLIN, Sept. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer today announced Marianne De Backer PhD as the new Head of Business Development & Licensing of its Pharmaceuticals Division. She will report to Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer AG, and President of the company's Pharmaceuticals Division and join the Pharmaceuticals Executive Committee with immediate effect. De Backer will be based in Berkeley, CA, USA and lead Bayer's external pharmaceutical growth strategy and activities globally in all key areas of pharmaceutical innovation and alliance management.

"Marianne De Backer is a recognized business leader with an impressive track record spanning over two decades in research, commercial, as well as licensing, mergers and acquisitions," said Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer AG, and President of the company's Pharmaceuticals Division. "Her breadth of experience in successfully forming and managing external alliances will be one of the key drivers for Bayer's continued growth, ultimately aimed at providing new medicines and solutions to patients."

De Backer joins Bayer from Johnson & Johnson where she spearheaded Business Development activities across different therapeutic areas and geographies, which in many cases led to medicines now available to patients. She most recently held the position of Vice President of M&A Operations and Divestitures for the Pharmaceuticals Group and led Infectious Diseases & Vaccines Business Development including transactions, acquisitions, scientific licensing and alliance management. De Backer received her PhD from the University of Ghent, Belgium and her MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, The Netherlands. She is a member of the Board of Ecohealth Alliance in New York City and Gladstone Foundation in San Francisco.

"What inspires me every day is that every partnership holds the promise to make a fundamental difference for patients," said De Backer. "I am honored to be joining this world-class organization, deeply rooted in using science for a better life, and with a vision of growth through innovation. We are looking forward to working with partners from across the world to make this vision a reality."

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2018, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.6 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.2 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

SOURCE Bayer