Life Sciences Specialist Expands to Pharmaceutical Capital
November 11, 2015 – Global life sciences search specialist Coulter Partners has expanded into Switzerland with the appointments of Graham Johnson as executive vice president and Helene Johnson as executive assistant in its new Basel office. They join Toby Ernberg, who serves as EVP in Basel.
The Swiss chemical industry operates largely from here. But the city also boasts a large pharmaceutical industry, hence its attraction to Coulter. Novartis, Cyba Speciality Chemicals, Clariant, Syngenta, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basilea Pharmaceutica, and Actelion are all headquartered in Basel. The city also enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe.
“I am delighted to be joined by Graham and Helene here in Switzerland, where we can bring complementary strengths and synergies to bear in developing our worldwide business together,” said Mr. Ernberg, who joined Coulter in last year to open its Geneva office. His emphasis is on business development and international senior recruitment across life sciences. He has a focus in med tech and a strong track record in commercial and sales functions across Europe.
Mr. Johnson specializes in senior level international assignments across a broad range of functions in the pharmaceuticals, med tech and biotech sectors. He draws on an extensive track record of 12 years in life sciences executive search.
Previously, he was managing director at ZRG Partners and before that was a regional president with Ken Clark International. In addition to expertise gained in search for some of the top five pharmaceutical companies, Mr. Johnson has also recruited for key players in the chemicals industry. He also brings a wealth of specialist expertise gained in a previous international career that spanned Asia, the Netherlands and Switzerland with Rolic Technologies, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Shell International.
Ms. Johnson joins Coulter Partners to provide business development and administrative support in both Basel and Geneva. She has considerable life sciences experience, having worked for 12 years in international executive search.
In October, Coulter Partners expanded into Germany with the opening of new offices in Frankfurt and Berlin. The firm appointed Anne-Monika Dürk as executive vice president, Thomas Pilz as research associate and Dr. Christoph Themel as principal.
Earlier this year, Coulter Partners opened in Copenhagen and appointed Eskil Westh as executive vice president.
Coulter Partners has made a number of new appointments to augment its global expansion. The firm’s team now includes PhD and MD-qualified researchers, language proficiencies in Russian, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Danish and Swedish and specialized expertise in business psychology and human resource management. Coulter currently operates overseas offices in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. In the U.S., the firm has offices in Princeton, Boston and Morristown.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
