By Francois Giudice, Bureau Chief, France

A leading player in medical diagnostics, Cerba HealthCare has announced the appointment of Emmanuel Ligner as Chief Executive Officer of the Group. The Group has also strengthened its Supervisory Board with the appointment of Paul Navarre as Chairman and the appointments of Dr. Nuala Murphy and BenoîtRibadeau-Dumas. Their international track records and deep healthcare expertise will support the Group’s expansion in Europe, Africa and North America in clinical pathology for clinical trials, routine and specialty clinical pathology. Cerba HealthCare aims to remain at the forefront of medical innovation to help develop new treatments and improve patient health.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Ligner said: “Cerba HealthCare is a leading company in the field of medical diagnostics as evidenced by the Group’s growth and the importance it has placed on innovation since its very inception. I am honored to join Cerba HealthCare at this key moment in its history where the expertise of the Group -ranging from routine clinical pathology to clinical pathology for assays- makes it possible to meet the challenges of the personalized medicine of tomorrow. I look forward to joining the management team and meeting with the employees. Together, we will build the next chapter of Cerba HealthCare.”

Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Paul Navarre adds: “ I am very pleased to join the Supervisory Board of Cerba HealthCare, which will invest all its energy and skills into the implementation of our international deployment strategy and the completion of the transformation plan already underway. With Emmanuel’s appointment, the Group is in an excellent position to carry out its growth strategy, powered by its ability to innovate and consolidate its positions across businesses and geographic markets. “

Senior Advisor and former Chief Executive Officer of the Group, Jérôme Thill adds: “As I step down as Chief Executive Officer, I would like to thank all of Cerba HealthCare’s teams and partners. I wish Emmanuel Ligner and the whole team every success in their new roles.”

Emmanuel Ligner will join Cerba HealthCare on March 1st, 2024. Until then, Paul Navarre will act as the Group’s CEO, with the support of Jérôme Thill, as Senior Advisor, and of Philippe Buhl, as Managing Director.

Emmanuel Ligner has had a distinguished career in the healthcare sector. As Chairman and CEO of Cytiva (formerly GE HealthCare Life Sciences) since 2017, he has accelerated the growth trajectory of the group, which doubled sales in recent years. Before taking the helm at Cytiva, Emmanuel held a number of key positions in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Emmanuel began his career in the late 90s in Japan with Otsuka Pharmaceutical before joining Abbott.

Paul Navarre spent 30 years in management positions at Procter & Gamble, Allergan (President) and FerringInc (CEO). He is currently a member of the board of directors of several companies around the world (LEO Pharma, HTL, Hallura) and advises private equity funds.

Dr. Nuala Murphy, a neuroscientist by training, has held senior international positions in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as President of Development and Commercialization at ICON Plc. In addition to joining the Supervisory Board of Cerba HealthCare, Nuala will take on the role of Executive Chair of Cerba Research.

BenoîtRibadeau-Dumas spent 15 years in senior management positions in the industry sector (Thales, CGG, Zodiac Aerospace), before becoming Chief of Staff to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe from 2017 to 2020. Benoît is now Managing Director at Exor and a member of various boards, including Stellantis, Iveco, InstitutMérieux and Galileo Global Education.