Qiagen: Thierry Bernard

Qiagen said this week that it has named Thierry Bernard as CEO. Qiagen's board has also resolved to propose Bernard for election as CEO and managing director at the company's next annual meeting in June. Bernard, who is also senior VP and head of molecular diagnostics at Qiagen, has served as the company's interim CEO since October, when long-time CEO Peer Schatz parted ways with the company. Bernard joined Qiagen in 2015. Prior to that he was senior executive VP of worldwide commercial operations at BioMérieux, where he also managed investor relations for the greater China region.

Bernard is "an outstanding leader who has performed impressively while guiding Qiagen through a period of significant change since taking on this role on an interim basis in October 2019," Håkan Björklund, chairman of Qiagen's supervisory board, said in a statement. "He is a strong and proven leader with extensive industry expertise and deep customer relationships. Most important, he has shown the energy and skill to drive Qiagen forward and has been a key leader in achieving the agreement for Qiagen to be acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in a transaction that remains on track for completion in the first half of 2021."