Bayer appoints Dr. Jürgen Eckhardt as the new Head of Pharmaceuticals Business Development & Licensing / Open Innovation
04.09.2023 12:54
Bayer announced the appointment of Dr. Jürgen Eckhardt MD, MBA as the new Head of Business Development & Licensing / Open Innovation (BDL/OI) of its Pharmaceuticals Division effective September 1, 2023. He will be a member of the Pharmaceuticals Executive Committee and will report to Stefan Oelrich, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the company's Pharmaceuticals division. At the same time, Eckhardt will continue to lead Leaps by Bayer, the company's impact investing arm, and in this role will continue to report to Bill Anderson, Bayer AG CEO.
“Jürgen Eckhardt’s expertise based on more than 25 years in the healthcare industry as a doctor, strategy consultant and venture capital investor in the areas of healthcare, biotechnology and agriculture will be of great importance in leading our external growth strategy,” said Stefan Oelrich, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the company's pharmaceutical division. “At the same time, I would like to express my thanks to Friedemann Janus for taking over the acting leadership of the BDL/OI organization over the past few months.”
Jürgen Eckhardt joined Bayer in 2016 to help launch Leaps by Bayer, focusing on investments in breakthrough technologies in healthcare and agriculture. Since then, Leaps by Bayer has invested more than $1.7 billion in more than 55 companies, several of which were acquired by Bayer to strengthen its technology portfolio and development pipeline. Eckhardt began his career as a doctor at the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland and was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. and a venture capital investor before joining Bayer. He has served on the boards of numerous biotech companies and led many partnership transactions throughout his career. Jürgen received his MD from the University of Basel and his MBA from the “Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires” (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France.
“At Bayer, we strongly believe in collaboration and partnerships as part of the strategy to combine each other's strengths and capabilities so that we can provide breakthrough innovations to patients,” said Jürgen Eckhardt, Head of Business Development & Licensing / Open Innovation and head of Leaps by Bayer. “Listening to our partners’ needs and sharing ideas to find the best solutions for patients will continue to be an integral part of our partnership approach, and I look forward to driving this forward with our BDL/OI teams around the world .”