Neovii Pharmaceuticals appointed Juergen Pohle, Chief Commercial Officer, as CEO and Managing Director of Neovii, to start 1 January, 2018.
Alexandre Sudarskis, CEO of Neovii Pharmaceuticals will step down as CEO having reached retirement age.
CEO since June 2014, Alexandre Sudarskis established Neovii Pharmaceuticals' headquarters in Switzerland and has played a leading role in the launch of GRAFALON, the restructuring and globalisation of the company.
Sudarskis also led activities to broaden the portfolio, which included in-licensing certain rights to ARCALYST.
Sudarskis said: "Neovii has significantly expanded with increasing performance, paving the way to become a recognised player in transplantation medicine."
He will continue to support Neovii as Executive Director and member of Neovii Pharmaceuticals Board.
David Fuhrer, Chairman at Neovii Pharmaceuticals, said: "Our special thanks go to the outgoing Managing Director Alexandre Sudarskis. Under his leadership, the turnaround of the company was successfully completed and business was expanded into new territories."
Juergen Pohle has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Neovii Pharmaceuticals since March 2016, where he was responsible for the company's global business.
He draws on more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Bayer HealthCare, GSK and Novartis. Most recently he was heading the business for Emerging Growth Markets and Institutional Customers like UNICEF for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics in Basel.
Fuhrer said: "Juergen's leadership skills, his long-term proven track record and his many years of international experience in the pharmaceutical industry make him the ideal candidate for the position of CEO. We are extremely pleased that Juergen has embraced the challenge of further driving the development and growth of Neovii."
Pohle said: "I feel very honoured and humbled to have been giving the opportunity to lead Neovii and would like to thank Alexandre for his mentorship during the last years. Furthermore, I wish to express my gratitude to David for the trust I have been granted. We will continue to develop Neovii to become a leading provider of life-saving, innovative drugs in the transplantation and rare diseases area."