After acquisition of Top Diagnostics, Roche sketches new strategy

Following the acquisition of Top Diagnostics, Roche has directly entered the local market with an established general manager and a 50 million-euro sales target. Two years ago, Frank Humer, then chairman and CEO of Roche, one of the leading global drugs manufacturers, referred to Central and Eastern Europe as being “of stellar importance to the company,” when asked by Ziarul Financiar. Although, at that time, the executives of the Swiss giant only had 100 employees and declared themselves happy with their position in Romania, things have changed dramatically. In its latest move, Roche acquired Top Diagnostics, which distributed its products in Romania. “We sealed this deal because Romania has become more important to us given the sales increase,” explained Marcel Gmunder, head of Eastern Europe Roche Diagnostics. Marcel Gmunder’s job has been to give a rough outline for Roche Diagnostics’ strategy in Romania in 2009, when the division’s business will run at full speed. The first step has been the appointment of the general manager, Harald Wolf, who will head a team of around 60-people as of January.