Roland Diggelmann resigns as head of Roche’s diagnostics division

Roland Diggelmann has resigned from Roche Diagnostics after 10 years’ service. Mr Diggelmann has had a varied career in that time, he started off as head of Asia Pacific in 2008, and held the positions of chief operating officer and chief executive officer. Prior to Roche he was MD and senior vice president of Sales/Distribution EMEA at Zimmer GmbH.
Michael Heuer, region head of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, will cover Mr Diggelmann’s responsibilities as head of Roche’s diagnostics division until a replacement is appointed. This division leads the field in hi-tech equipment to diagnose a range of diseases, and has recently been looking at cancer immunotherapy effectiveness tests. It brings in over 20% of Roche’s annual sales.
CEO Severin Schwan said: “I am grateful to Roland for his many valuable contributions during his 10 years at Roche and I wish him all the best for the future.”
Suggestions are being made that Mr Diggelmann might be heading to a small diagnostics start-up company, as has been the pattern this year with many large pharma company executives leaving their posts to join smaller competitors in senior positions.