Novartis Appoints Zhang Ying as President of Innovative Medicines China; Boehringer Ingelheim Announces HR Leadership Transition

At the beginning of this month, Novartis announced the introduction of a new organizational structure and operating model, which will integrate the pharmaceuticals and oncology divisions into a single Innovative Medicines Division. Additionally, two independent commercial organizations will be created, divided geographically into the U.S. and International commercial units. These two new units will operate independently, maintain separate accounting, and assume full responsibility for all therapeutic areas.

The merger of Novartis' two global business units means that Novartis Pharmaceuticals (China) and Novartis Oncology (China) will also be recombined into one. According to the previous announcement by Novartis globally, in addition, comprehensive administrative functions such as finance, human resources, compliance, legal, and communications will also be globally integrated at both the global and national/regional levels.

On April 22, further news emerged that Novartis has confirmed the regional heads for its innovative drugs division worldwide. Among them, Zhang Ying, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals (China), has been appointed as the President and Managing Director of Innovative Drugs in China, effective June 1.

Zhang Ying's career began at McKinsey & Company, and she has held management positions at several multinational pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and Pfizer. In 2011, she joined Novartis. She is well-known among Novartis sales personnel for her role as the former Director of Specialty Medicines at Novartis China, where she established the Novartis specialty medicines team. In 2015, she was transferred to become the President of Novartis Poland. By 2017, she had been successively appointed as COO, CPO, and President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals in China, beginning her leadership of Novartis' pharmaceutical business in China. According to Novartis, during her tenure, the company achieved double-digit growth for five consecutive years. With a patient-centered approach, she facilitated the launch of multiple innovative drugs in China.

Besides Zhang Ying, Novartis also appointed several other regional heads on the same day. For instance, Irism Zemzoumi, the current president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMA), will serve as the president of Novartis Innovative Drugs APMA. Leo Lee, the current head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Japan and president of Novartis Japan, will serve as the president and managing director of Novartis Innovative Drugs Japan. All these appointments will take effect from June 1st.

In addition, Pasquale Frega, currently President of Novartis Italy and Head of the Pharmaceuticals Business, will assume the role of President of Novartis Innovative Medicines Latin America and Canada (LACan) starting July 15.

Xie Fang Appointed as BI Greater China Human Resources Vice President

On April 22, Boehringer Ingelheim also announced a major personnel appointment: Guan Hongjuan, the current Vice President of Human Resources for BI Greater China, has decided to retire from the company.

It was also announced that, effective May 1, Xie Fang, currently the HR Business Partner of Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Greater China’s Human Pharma Division, will assume the role of Vice President of Human Resources for BI Greater China. She will join the BI Greater China Leadership Team and become a member of the BI Global HR Council, based in Shanghai. She will report directly to Fei Hsiao, CEO and President of BI Greater China, as well as to Sven Sommerlatte, Head of BI Global Human Resources.

Xie Fang has been with Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for 12 years. According to internal BI sources, she has extensive experience in HR shared services, compensation and benefits, and HR business partnering. During her tenure as the HR Business Partner for BI’s Greater China Human Pharma Division, she was responsible for formulating and implementing the HR strategy for the division. Additionally, she played a key role in the business transformation project of the Human Pharma Division—named "Riding the Waves."