- Urs Baerlocher, a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis since 1999, retires as of August 31
Basel, August 29, 2007 - Novartis announced today the retirement of Dr. Urs Baerlocher, who was a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis and most recently Head of Legal and Tax Affairs. He will retire at the end of August at the age of 65.
Dr. Thomas Werlen, 42, General Counsel of Novartis since January 2006 will now directly report to Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis. He previously reported to Urs Baerlocher. Barbara Kessler, Head of Group Tax and Insurance will report to Dr. Raymund Breu, Group CFO.
"I want to thank Urs Baerlocher for his contributions in overseeing several strong global functions for Novartis. He built a solid legal and tax function, and his skills were particularly helpful in several of our strategic initiatives. Following our signing of the UN Global Compact, Urs Baerlocher advanced our implementation of Novartis' strong Code of Conduct," said Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis.
After working as a tax attorney in Solothurn, Urs Baerlocher joined Sandoz in 1973 and held positions of increasing responsibility, including CEO of the Sandoz Nutrition division and CEO of Sandoz Pharma while also serving on the Sandoz Executive Board. At Novartis, he was named a member of the Executive Committee in 1999.
Prior to joining Novartis, Dr. Thomas Werlen was a partner in the London office of the international law firm Allen & Overy LLP. He also worked at other law firms in Switzerland and the US. He has a Ph.D in law from the University of Zurich and earned a master's degree from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the New York and the Swiss bar.
About Novartis
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in offering medicines to protect health, cure disease and improve well-being. Our goal is to discover, develop and successfully market innovative products to treat patients, ease suffering and enhance the quality of life. We are strengthening our medicine-based portfolio, which is focused on strategic growth platforms in innovation-driven pharmaceuticals, high-quality and low-cost generics, human vaccines and leading self-medication OTC brands. Novartis is the only company with leadership positions in these areas. In 2006, the Group's businesses achieved net sales of USD 37.0 billion and net income of USD 7.2 billion. Approximately USD 5.4 billion was invested in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ more than 100,000 associates and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit
http://www.novartis.com.
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Novartis Media Relations
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John Gilardi
Novartis Global Media Relations
+41 61 324 3018 (direct)
+41 79 596 1408 (mobile)
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Carrie Scott
Novartis Global Media Relations
+41 61 324 3435 (direct)
+41 79 264 4121 (mobile)
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Attachments:
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