After shedding its plastics business Bayer MaterialScience – now trading as Covestro – the Bayer group is reorganizing its business structure, replacing the strategic management holding with an integrated organization that from January 2016 will have three divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Crop Science.

The aim of the new structure, CEO Marijn Dekkers said, is to “provide the best possible support to Bayer’s strategy as a leading life science company and to put ourselves in an even stronger position vis-à-vis our competitors. As the Bayer managing board in future will have responsibility for all business operations, the company has appointed the heads of the Pharmaceutical and Consumer Health divisions of its Healthcare subgroup, Dieter Weinand and Erica Man, along with the head of the CropScience subgroup, Liam Condon to the managing board.

Also with effect from Jan. 1, Hartmut Klusik will join the Bayer managing board as the new labor director and will also have responsibility for Human Resources, Technology and Sustainability. Klusik will succeed Michael König, who Bayer said has requested that his contract not be extended.

When the HealthCare subgroup is dissolved, the radiology business will be assigned to the Pharmaceuticals division. In future, Consumer Health will comprise the present Consumer Care division. The CropScience subgroup will be known as the Crop Science division. The division’s former Animal Health unit will report directly to Liam Condon.

Bayer said the divisions will focus on core competencies close to their businesses, including research and development, production, and sales & marketing. They will be supported by integrated functions such as Human Resources and Procurement and by global services. The existing Technology Services company will become the Engineering & Technology function. Bayer Business Services, the company bundling information technology and business support service, will remain a separate legal entity that is to see further expansion.