Non-executive chairman joins Ergomed board

Drug development services company Ergomed has appointed Rolf Stahel to its board as non-executive chairman. Stahel brings over 30 years’ experience in the global pharmaceutical industry. He led Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc as CEO from March 1994 to 2003 and during his tenure implemented six mergers and acquisitions, transforming the private $30 million (£17.7/€21.5 million) company into a FTSE 100 company.

Miroslav Reljanovic, CEO of Ergomed commented: “We are delighted that Rolf has joined Ergomed as chairman. He brings unrivalled experience of the pharmaceutical industry and a proven ability in building successful companies with a focus on drug development and specialty pharma. We have a successful fifteen year track record in the provision of high-quality drug development services and are very well positioned to expand the unique Ergomed co-development partnership model. We look forward to benefitting from Rolf’s knowledge and expertise as we continue to expand internationally and take Ergomed to the next stage of its development.”

Stahel said: “There are two aspects of Ergomed that I find compelling. Firstly, the base business is an international, profitable and fast growing clinical research organisation. Secondly, the rapidly expanding co-development business for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in exchange for a share of future royalties provides high potential upside. I look forward to helping build Ergomed into a significant healthcare company.”

Stahel, a Swiss national, is a graduate in business studies and attended Harvard University. He worked for 27 years with Wellcome plc in Switzerland, Italy, Thailand, Singapore and the UK. As Regional Director, based in Singapore, Stahel was responsible for 18 Pacific Rim countries. His last position with Wellcome was director of group marketing, based in the UK covering group strategy, R&D portfolio evaluation, marketing of existing and new products and business development.

Stahel joined Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc in March 1994 as chief executive. At this time, the company was privately held and had an estimated value of approximately $30 million (£17.7/€21.5 million), revenues of $3 million (£1.8/€2.2 million) and 50 employees. Nine years later, Shire was a FTSE 100 Company, had a market capitalisation of approximately $3.2 billion (£1.9/€2.3 billion), revenues of $1.1 billion (£0.7/€0.8 billion) and 1,800 employees.

Stahel sits on the advisory board of Imperial Business School (Imperial College London). He has been non-executive chairman of several companies including Newron Pharmaceuticals, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, PowderMed and EUSA Pharma. He is currently non-executive chairman of Connexios Life Sciences and Midatech.         

Ergomed, http://ergomedgroup.com.