Qiagen said this week that it has made a number of changes to its management, notably naming a new CEO.
According to the company, current CEO Metin Colpan has decided to step down as of Jan. 1, transitioning to a new role as senior technology advisor and member of the supervisory board. He will be replaced by CFO Peer Schatz, who will become Qiagen’s president and CEO.
Roland Sackers will take over as CFO.
Commenting on the change during Qiagen’s third-quarter conference call, Colpan said that “the role as a CEO left me not enough time and freedom to focus on market development, technology, science, and specific development projects. As you know, my real passion was always technology and science, and my new role … will allow me to pursue this passion.”
Schatz will also head up Qiagen’s new executive committee. Members of the committee also include Sackers; Joachim Schorr, managing director and senior vice president of R&D; Bernd Uder, managing director and senior vice president of sales and marketing; Michael Collasius, vice president of instrumentation; Aeneas Marxen, vice president of operations; and Uli Schriek, vice president of business development.
Qiagen added that it expects to appoint additional members of the executive committee as it fills the open positions of vice president of molecular diagnostics applications and vice president of corporate strategy.