Fritz Gerber, the long-time head of Roche Holding who helped transform the Swiss company from an image-tarnished vitamins, drugs and chemicals conglomerate into a biotechnology and diagnostics giant, has died at the age of 91.
Gerber, who died from a stroke on Sunday, served as CEO and chairman from 1978 to 1998 and until 2001 as Roche's chairman. He oversaw the acquisition of a majority stake in U.S. biotech group Genentech in 1990 just as use of monoclonal antibodies was poised to radically alter the fight against cancer.
Gerber also spearheaded the acquisition of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology in 1991 and the $11 billion purchase of Boehringer Mannheim in 1997 that expanded Roche's reach into diagnostic tests that have been deployed widely this year to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
"Fritz Gerber made numerous major acquisitions with intuition and a keen sense of when something is ripe," Roche said in a statement confirming his death. "Roche still benefits today from his foresight."
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