As had been widely speculated, Olivier Brandicourt, currently CEO of Bayer HealthCare, will leave the company at the end of March and become new CEO of French pharmaceutical produer Sanofi from the beginning of April. Simultaneously, Bayer holding board member Werner Baumann will take over as head of the HealthCare subgroup.

Sanofi is currently being managed by supervisory board chairman Serge Weinberg. It was Weinberg who took responsibility for the October 2014 abrupt dismissal of Christopher Viehbacher, the company's first non-French CEO, with whom he disagreed on communications strategy.

Baumann will remain a member of the Board of Management of Bayer and of the company's Executive Council. He will also retain responsibility for strategy and portfolio management as well as for the Europe region. He already held leading positions at Bayer HealthCare from 2002 to 2009 - initially as Head of Central Administration & Organization and later as a member of the Board of Management and as the subgroup's Labor Director. Between 2006 and 2009, he actively participated in the integration of Schering, Berlin, Germany.

Bayer HealthCare comprises the Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Care, Animal Health and Medical Care divisions.Olivier Brandicourt has been Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare AG and Chairman of the Bayer HealthCare Executive Committee since November 1, 2013. He was also appointed a member of the Executive Council of Bayer AG. Brandicourt studied medicine and biology in Paris and has worked as a practicing physician. Having begun his industrial career in 1987 at Parke-Davis / Warner-Lambert, he subsequently joined Pfizer, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, becoming a member of its Executive Leadership Team in 2010.

Werner Baumann has been a member of the Board of Management of Bayer since January 1, 2010. Effective October 1, 2014, he was appointed Chief Strategy and Portfolio Officer (CSPO) with responsibility for Corporate Development and Mergers & Acquisitions. He is also responsible for the Europe region. Prior to October 1, 2014, he served as Bayer's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Baumann studied economics in Aachen and Cologne. He joined Bayer in 1988, where his first duties were in the Corporate Finance Department. After holding positions of increasing responsibility in Spain and the United States, he became a member of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare.