QIAGEN elects Dr. Heinrich Hornef and Dr. Manfred Karobath to Board of Supervisory Directors
Dr. Hornef has an extensive background as a director and senior executive of large pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. Between 1973 and 1991, Dr. Hornef served in various positions at Boehringer Mannheim GmbH, including Chief Financial Officer. He thereafter served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Berlin-based Treuhandanstalt, the privatization agency in East Germany, and as President of its successor organization, BvS. He is currently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck KGaA, Darmstadt and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at Heidelberg Innovation GmbH, a biotechnology and life science venture capital company. He is also a board member of Kali and Salz GmbH, Kassel, and a member of the Advisory Board of Deutsche Bank AG. Between 1985 and 1995 he also served as a Director on the Supervisory Board of SAP AG.
Professor Dr. Manfred Karobath also brings to QIAGEN valuable experience as a director and business executive in the life sciences. He has held the positions of President of R&D, Executive Vice President and Board member at Rhône Poulenc Rorer, as well as a Board member of Pasteur Mérieux Connought, Centeon and Rhône Poulenc Pharma. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and head of R&D, Switzerland at Sandoz Pharma in Basle. Dr. Karobath currently serves on a range of supervisory boards including IDEA AG, Coley Pharmaceuticals Group, Inc. and Cardion AG. He is also a member of the Swiss Science and Technology Council. He has been active in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Vienna and as Professor of Biological Psychiatry. Professor Dr. Karobath has a degree in Medicine from the University of Vienna and has received numerous prizes and awards for his achievements in science and the management of research and development.
Professor Dr. Detlev Riesner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of QIAGEN, commented, "We are delighted to welcome Heinrich Hornef and Manfred Karobath to QIAGEN's Board of Supervisory Directors. Their combined breadth of experience in the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries strengthens the Board of Supervisory Directors and will be of high value to QIAGEN as the Company expands on its exciting path of growth."
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, Australia and Canada, believes it is the world's leading provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids. The Company has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 280 proprietary, consumable products for nucleic acid separation, purification and handling, nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products and related services. QIAGEN's products are sold in more than 42 countries throughout the world to academic research markets and to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, the Company is positioning its products for sale into developing commercial markets, including DNA sequencing and genomics, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy. QIAGEN employs approximately 1,200 people worldwide.