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He was one of the defining figures of the Swiss economy: Fritz Gerber. The honorary president of the pharmaceutical giant Roche died of a stroke on Sunday at the age of 91. This is announced by your former employer Roche.
Gerber comes from a different moment: this only shows the list of his mandates. Gerber’s dual role as CEO (1978-1998) and Chairman of the Board of Directors (1978-2001) had shaped Roche’s rise to become a leading pharmaceutical company worldwide for more than two decades. He remained closely associated with Roche throughout his life as honorary president.
A modernizer
Fritz Gerber led the company from the difficult situation to a new success in the late 1970s. Under his leadership, Roche’s corporate and management structures were fundamentally renewed and modernized, from focusing on core businesses to modernizing the structure. of capital. Only the CEO’s double mandate remained.
“It is largely thanks to Fritz Gerber that Roche found its way back to success at the end of the last millennium. He was deeply convinced of the value of long-term thinking, which has shaped the company to this day. I was very impressed with its kindness and its Bernese charm, but also with its clarity and consistency. »Honors Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roche, the deceased.
Head of Zurich and Roche in personal union
Franz also notes another quirk in Gerber’s career: “For 17 years, he even led Roche in a dual term with the Zurich Insurance Presidium, which made him one of the most influential Swiss managers of the day.” Gerber also sat on other boards of directors and had a lasting impact on the Swiss economy.
In the tanneries era, Roche acquired a stake in the American company Genentech in 1990, laying the foundation for the conversion of the pharmaceutical company into one of the largest biotech companies. In 1997 Roche also bought its German competitor Boehringer Mannheim and became the market leader in the field of diagnostics. An area that is a central pillar in the fight against the virus in the times of Corona. Roche has only one promising antibody test launched. (koh)
