After serving as CEO for three years, PD Dr. Martin Reist has decided to leave SAKK. Through a successful restructuring process, he secured the long-term existence of SAKK and safeguarded its mandate. In collaboration with the Board and the Coordinating Center team, he successfully restructured SAKK and drove forward its development. The Board would like to thank him for his considerable efforts.

The Board has now selected his successor: it has elected Dr. Hans Rudolf Keller as the new CEO of SAKK. A qualified pharmacist, Dr. Keller has worked in various management roles, notably at Novartis, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel and Tox Info Suisse. Hans Rudolf Keller is familiar with the association's activities from his time as CEO of pharmaSuisse and interim CEO of the Swiss Samaritan Federation, and is well-versed in the strategic and political topics that are of importance to SAKK. In his current role as owner and manager of Ventivo Consulting GmbH, Hans Rudolf Keller advises biopharmaceutical companies on matters relating to strategy, marketing and business development.

The 57-year-old holds a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bern and a PhD in the same subject from the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. He went on to obtain an MBA at INSEAD and, more recently, a VR-CAS (Certified Director for Board Effectiveness) qualification at the University of St. Gallen. Hans Rudolf Keller is married with two grown-up children and lives in Bolligen.