Bayer HealthCare medical and development chief takes on new role

Bayer HealthCare's head of global development and chief medical officer Dr Kemal Malik has been promoted to a new role on the board of management for the wider Bayer group.

Dr Malik, a member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee who has occupied his current role since July 2007, will become the board member responsible for innovation at Bayer, succeeding the retiring Professor Wolfgang Plischke.

During his time with Bayer HealthCare, he has been credited with successfully driving the development of new drug products such as the anticoagulant Xarelto. He will join the board on February 1st 2014 and will take over Professor Plischke's position on April 30th.

Meanwhile, the successor to Dr Malik in his current functions at Bayer HealthCare will be announced at a later date.

Werner Wenning, chairman of the supervisory board of Bayer, said: "His international expertise will further strengthen Bayer's innovative capability, especially in the life sciences."

During the third quarter of 2013, Bayer HealthCare's sales rose by 0.5 percent year on year to 4.74 billion euros (3.96 billion pounds), thanks to the strong performance of its pharmaceuticals division.