Sterling Pharma Solutions Welcomes Karl Rotthier as new CEO
Sterling Pharma Solutions announced the appointment of Karl Rotthier as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 21 October, 2025.
Karl Rotthier succeeds Kevin Cook, who has served as CEO since 2013 and has now taken the decision to retire. Kevin will work closely with Karl to ensure a smooth leadership transition until 31 October, 2025.
Chris Brinsmead CBE, Chair of the Sterling Board, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Karl to Sterling Pharma Solutions. Karl is a highly experienced CEO who has worked in both listed and private CDMO companies in Europe and globally. He has leadership experience working in fast-growing businesses that have expanded internationally and has a strong track record of driving commercial effectiveness and operational excellence.
Karl Rotthier has over 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, beginning his career at BASF in the chemicals business. He then joined DSM as Director of Business Projects, progressing to Business Unit Director in the CDMO division in Austria and leading the Anti-Infectives business at DSM. He went on to become CEO at Centrient Pharmaceuticals, when the DSM/Sinochem joint venture, which he was instrumental in establishing, became private-equity owned. More recently, until October 31, 2023, Rotthier held the position of CEO at EuroAPI, a carve-out from Sanofi and CDMO specialized in developing and manufacturing APIs with significant expertise in high potency, peptides, toxin linkers and oligonucleotides.
