Franz Humer has told Roche he will not stand for re-election as Chairman of the company’s board of directors next year.

The 67-year-old announced his decision at Roche’s annual general meeting that he intends to end his 28-year association with the Swiss-based company when his term ends in 2014.

He said that Roche is in “excellent shape and well positioned to meet future challenges” and now is a “good time to hand over to a successor”.

Roche will now nominate Humer’s replacement this autumn. The Board has said the new chair will also serve as Non-Executive Chairman, continuing the separation of the offices of chair and CEO.

Humer joined the company in 1995 as Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he worked as the UK general manager for Schering Plough Corporation and in similar high ranking positions for Glaxo. He became Roche Chairman in 2001, after being appointed CEO two years earlier.

“I am looking forward to the next 12 months, and I intend to perform my duties as Chairman with enthusiasm and drive,” he added.

Humer is the third high-profile chair to confirm his departure this year. Dr Daniel Vasella called time on his association with Novartis back in January, followed by Mats Pettersson’s announcement last month that he was departing Lundbeck.

Merck & Co has appointed Michael J. Holston as its Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer as of June 25, 2012.

Holsten, an experienced business lawyer, will serve on Merck’s Executive Committee and be responsible for driving ethical standards and compliance for the company on a global basis.

He succeeds Richard S. Bowles, who is retiring after more than 35 years with Merck and the former Schering-Plough (which merged with Merck in 2009).

Holston joins from Hewlett-Packard, where as Executive VP and General Counsel he was responsible for overseeing compliance, government affairs, privacy, ethics operations and legal affairs.

Previously, he was a partner at law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where he served as external counsel to Merck on product litigation and regulatory compliance.

Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier said: “We are delighted to welcome Mike as our new chief ethics and compliance officer. His extensive experience managing compliance with healthcare laws across international businesses and his background with Merck and our industry make Mike a terrific leader for our ethics and compliance organisation and a member of our Executive Committee.”

Frazier also praised Richard S. Bowles: “His strong leadership established the global compliance organisation for the combined new company following the merger with Schering-Plough.”

Hosten said he was “excited to be joining Merck at this important period of change for the company and the pharmaceutical industry” and looks forward to “helping to champion Merck’s high ethical and compliance standards so the company can focus on what it does best – discovering and developing innovative new medicines and vaccines.”

Merck is known as MSD outside the US and Canada.

European pharmaceutical group Mundipharma has appointed Paul Medeiros as Head of Corporate and Business Development.

Medeiros, who joins the group from AVI BioPharma, will join the executive leadership team and be responsible for extending and expanding areas for growth.

Based in the UK, Mundipharma is a network of companies across 32 European countries, including Napp in the UK.

Medeiros was previously Senior VP and Chief Business Officer at AVI BioPharma, a specialist in RNA-based drugs for rare diseases.

Over 19 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, Medeiros has also been VP of Global Licensing and Strategic Alliances for Schering-Plough and held several roles in sales and marketing at Merck & Co.

His experience includes licensing and strategic partnering initiatives in specialist therapy areas.

Antony Mattessich, Regional Director, Mundipharma Europe, said: “Paul’s deep experience and network in the pharma industry, combined with his entrepreneurial mind-set and nuanced understanding of the business, will be essential for Mundipharma’s continued growth.”

Apodi has strengthened its Senior Management Team with the appointment of former AstraZeneca Head of NHS Partnership, Andrew Roberts.

Mr Roberts has more than 20 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry after working at Schering Plough and GSK and joins as Director of Business and Partnership Development.

Tony Swift, Managing Director of Apodi, says Mr Roberts brings “significant experience and knowledge” and will strengthen the company’s management team.

”I am delighted to be joining Apodi and look forward to working with the Senior Management Team to help pharmaceutical companies achieve their business objectives in a fast-changing healthcare market,” said Mr Roberts.

Apodi provides outsourcing solutions to pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses and organisations.

Sanofi is expected to overthrow Pfizer’s nine-year reign as the world’s biggest drug maker, according to new research.

The French pharmaceutical company is expected to retain the top spot until at least 2016, with Pfizer falling to third place behind Novartis due to the loss of Lipitor’s US patent protection, according to EvaluatePharma (see figure one).

The report says that Sanofi’s numerous acquisitions over the last decade have contributed largely to the company’s success, gaining $20 billion after it bought out Genzyme.

Sanofi’s mergers over the last decade have contributed a great deal to its current position, starting with its $30 billion deal with Synthélabo in 1999.

It is expected that the company will retain its top position until at least 2016, mainly thanks to sales of enzyme replacement therapies through its acquisition of Genzyme.

Also, the company’s addition of Cerezyme and Myozyme blockbuster drugs will help fill the gap left by Lovenox, Taxotere, and Plavix, which loses US patent protection in 2012.

Pfizer’s $68 billion buyout of Wyeth in 2009 helped fill the gap left by Lipitor, but it will be difficult to replace the drug’s global sales figure of $13.4 billion seen in 2008, which set the record as the biggest selling medicine.

Following its loss of US patent protection in November 2011, Lipitor sales are estimated to shrink to $2 billion by 2016.

However, pipeline products such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pills tofacitinib and Eliquis are expected to boost Pfizer’s drug sales after 2016, which will help retain the company’s position in the top-five pharmaceutical companies.

Merck’s four-year outlook is seen as bleak despite its takeover of Schering-Plough for $41 billion in 2009, with only 1% annual sales growth predicted, conceding to European companies GlaxoSmithKline and Roche to overtake the company.

EvaluatePharma predicts that Johnson & Johnson’s recent pipeline successes will benefit the company in the coming years, despite its drugs arm being substantially smaller than the five biggest pharma companies.

It is thought that Novartis will be Sanofi’s closest competition over the next few years, with strong sales growth from Gilenya and Tasigna due to Diovan’s loss of patent protection next year.

Figure 1:

Actelion has appointed the experienced Jean-Pierre Garnier (pictured) as the Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Members of the board nominated Mr Garnier in favour of its existing chair Robert Cawthorn, who has held the position since the company’s inception.

Mr Cawthorn said he was grateful for the opportunity and is delighted that a “highly experienced and very successful leader with an unparalleled career in the healthcare industry” will lead the company.

Mr Garnier was the first CEO of GSK after its inception from 2001 to 2008. Prior to that, he served as President of Schering-Plough’s US business and served as CEO at Pierre Fabre Labs for two years after leaving Glaxo.

He has been awarded various accolades for his work in healthcare and also serves on the Boards of Directors of the United Technologies Corporation, Renault S.A, and Cerenis.

“I am extremely proud to have been nominated as Chairman of the Board of Actelion,” said Mr Garnier. “I'm very impressed with the company’s track record and its position today as Europe’s largest biopharmaceutical company.

He added that since joining the company earlier in the year, he has become “even more convinced” of the company’s capacity to transfer drug discovery into “meaningful therapeutic solutions”.

“Since joining the company this spring, I have become even more convinced of Actelion’s capacity to translate superior drug discovery into meaningful therapeutic solutions and long-term business success. I look forward to guiding the company in the next phase of its growth together with my fellow Board members, management and all the Actelion employees.”

Between 12,000 and 13,000 jobs are expected to go at Merck – despite the company posting $2bn profits last quarter.

Layoffs will be made at the company’s US headquarters in administrative functions and from the sale and closure of manufacturing plants.

Kenneth Frazier, Merck CEO, claims the “realities of our environment dictate the need to operate more flexibly and nimbly from a lower cost base”.

The reduction plan would save the company another $1.5bn from its annual cost base.

The new restructuring programme would add cuts related to the Schering-Plough merger in 2009, bringing overall savings to more than $4.5bn.

The job losses will mean that Merck will have cut almost a third (30%) of the workforce it had in 2009. The company said it had already cut more than 12,000 jobs last year, but net workforce reduction was less due to hiring in other areas.

Despite the job cuts, Merck aims to continue recruiting in emerging markets that have been targeted for growth after sales fell in the US and Europe following the loss of exclusivity of blockbuster allergy-and-asthma drug Singulair.

Schering Plough’s Simponi (golimumab) has been recommended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in specific circumstances where previous treatments haven’t worked.

Simponi in combination with methotrexate is recommended for adults whose RA has responded inadequately to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) only.

Dr Carole Longson, Health Technology Evaluation Centre Director at NICE, says Simponi will provide “another option” for patients with “this very disabling disease”.

NICE currently recommends Humira (adalimumab), Enbrel (etanercept), Remicade (infliximab), MabThera (rituximab), Orencia (abatacept), RoActemra (tocilizumab) and Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of RA.

The final appraisal determination states that Simponi is now a recommended treatment option if it is used as described for other tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor treatments. Schering Plough must also provide 100mg doses at the same price as the 50mg dose.

In this situation, NICE says that Simponi can only be used as described for other TNF inhibitor treatments in NICE technology appraisal guidance 195 – which covers the use of adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, rituximab and abatacept after the failure of a TNF inhibitor – and again if the drug is supplied in 100mg doses at the same cost as the 50mg dose.

Schering-Plough Europe has withdrawn the marketing authorisation application for asthma treatment Zenhale.

The company said it has withdrawn the application as it was not able to meet the CHMP’s request for further information within the agreed timescale.

Zenhale was intended to be used for long-term, twice-daily maintenance treatment of asthma, including reduction of asthma exacerbations, in adults and children aged 12 years or older.

The application was submitted to the European Medicines Agency under a centralised procedure on 3 August 2009.

At the time of the withdrawal, the application was under review by the CHMP. The company will now be allowed to make a new application at a later date.

NICE has failed to recommend new rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment Simponi (golimumab) and has requested more information before making its final decision.

The independent Appraisal Committee is trying to establish in what circumstances Simponi might be a good use of resources and has asked Schering-Plough/Merck Sharp and Dohme for further clinical and cost effectiveness data.

Dr Carole Longson, Health Technology Evaluation Centre Director at NICE, said they needed to ensure the treatment offered “real benefits” to patients.

Simponi is a new treatment for moderate to severe active RA where the response to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy has been inadequate. The Committee said they would not “recommend the use of the drug in specific circumstances”.

NICE is analysing in what circumstances Simponi offers value for money when treating patients in whom previous treatments have failed. This includes conventional DMARDS only, and people who have had therapy with both conventional DMARDs and a TNF inhibitor and who can’t take Mabthera (rituximab).

“The evidence indicates that using golimumab isn’t cost effective if both conventional treatments and TNF inhibitors have already been tried and rituximab is an option,” said Dr Longson. “However, the additional information requested will be important in deciding whether golimumab can work effectively and cost effectively for patients in certain other circumstances.

“We’re looking forward to receiving the manufacturer’s response to help us decide whether golimumab should be added to the options already available to patients living with this very disabling disease.”