Bubendorf/Basel, Switzerland, December 12, 2019 – Bachem (SIX: BANB) announced today that Dr. Thomas Früh will be stepping down as CEO on health grounds effective January 1, 2020. Dr. Früh will continue to serve the company in a corporate services role. His successor as CEO will be current Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Corporate Executive Committee member Thomas Meier. The Board of Directors has appointed Roland Schürmann to the Corporate Executive Committee as the new Group COO.
Thomas Meier was born in 1968 in Schaffhausen. He joined Bachem AG in 1993 as Team Leader Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, after which he held various management posts in the United States, Switzerland and Europe. He has been Group COO and a member of the Corporate Executive Committee since 2019. Thomas Meier has a university of applied sciences degree in chemistry. In addition, he graduated from the part-time Swiss Technical Association degree course in Industrial Engineering and completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau/Paris.
Roland Schürmann was born in Zug in 1964. After completing his education, he worked as a chemical laboratory technician at Ciba-Geigy AG and as a production chemist at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd from 1984 to 1997. After holding various management positions at Siegfried Ltd in Zofingen, Switzerland, he became the company’s Head of Chemical Production in 2004. He moved to the Bachem Group in 2016 and is currently site manager at Bachem Americas, Inc. in Torrance, California. Roland Schürmann has a university of applied sciences degree in chemistry and is currently completing the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau/Paris.
Dr. Kuno Sommer, Chairman of Bachem’s Board of Directors, remarked:
“We very much regret the reasons that have led to this unscheduled management change, but would like to thank Thomas Früh for his many years of outstanding service to the Bachem Group. In over 26 years with Bachem, during which he has held various roles, including that of CEO since 2012, he has been a key contributor to the company’s success. We are delighted that we can continue to count on his valuable input and experience. In Thomas Meier we have found an extremely experienced and professional successor from within our own ranks to lead the Corporate Executive Committee. His many years with the Bachem Group guarantee a smooth handover and continuity in this important role. At a time when we are experiencing strong growth, we are also delighted to have found in Roland Schürmann a dynamic individual with an excellent track record to take on the challenging task of COO. The new Corporate Executive Committee line-up will thus still have all the experience and skills needed to seamlessly continue our Bachem success story.”