Roche announces change in Board of Directors
Basel, 4 September 2014 – Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today that Arthur D. Levinson has resigned from the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Arthur D. Levinson made this decision so as to avoid any conflict of interest given his role as Chief Executive Officer at Calico.
“I would like to thank Art for his many important contributions, both as a member of the Board of Directors and during his long history with Genentech and Roche,” said Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roche. “We regret Art’s decision but at the same time understand his reasons. The Board has greatly valued Art’s focus on patients, his scientific expertise and business leadership during this period of growth for Roche.”
Art Levinson (64) has served as a member of the Roche Board of Directors since 2010 and served as Chairman of Genentech from 1999 to 2014. Levinson joined Genentech in 1980 as a research scientist and became Vice President, Research Technology in 1989; Vice President, Research in 1990; Senior Vice President, Research in 1992; and Senior Vice President, Research and Development in 1993. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Genentech from 1995 to 2009. Since 2013 he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Calico, a company focusing on understanding the process of aging and developing therapies for age-related diseases.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organisation Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy.
In 2013 the Roche Group employed over 85,000 people worldwide, invested 8.7 billion Swiss francs in R&D and posted sales of 46.8 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan.
SOURCE: Roche