Ludger Roedder to join BRAIN AG Management Board as Chief Business Officer (CBO)

BRAIN AG announces today that Ludger Roedder will take on the newly created position of Chief Business Officer (CBO) on BRAIN AG’s management board. Expanding the management board to three persons is the next step the German listed industrial biotechnology company takes on its path to developing into a fully integrated supplier of products and client-specific biological solutions. The new Chief Business Officer (CBO) will assume responsibility for further increasing the BRAIN Group’s product business and, working hand in glove with his fellow board members and the senior management team, steer the continuous evolution of BRAIN’s product portfolio and client-specific product development programs. Ludger Roedder, a U.S. citizen, makes the move from the U.S.-based BASF Corporation to BRAIN AG based in Zwingenberg, Germany. Mr. Roedder will be appointed to BRAIN AG’s management board once the formalities required for an international move have been completed.

This step is a consistent continuation of BRAIN AG’s growth-oriented strategy of expanding the business in particular by means of scalable product offers. This also includes an increased momentum with regard to BRAIN’s international business activities, which are to be advanced by the new CBO. From 2005 to 2018, Ludger Roedder held a job with the U.S.-based BASF Corporation, where his last role was acting as Global Business Director with overall responsibility for managing the business unit “Food Performance Ingredients”, which also is a main focus of BRAIN’s activities. In this function, Mr. Roedder, among other things, dedicated himself to the development and growth of BASF’s enzyme business and was located in Germany for extended periods of time.

Owing to his many years of market orientation and experience in the field of product development and industrial B2B transactions, Mr. Roedder’s future activities on the management board of BRAIN AG will also include further improving the company’s access to attractive markets. BRAIN’s most recent milestones in this regard were the acquisition of a majority stake in the leading UK-based specialty enzyme producer Biocatalysts Ltd. and the spin-off of its R&D activities for Aurase^®, a new enzyme for biological wound care, into SolasCure Ltd., also at home in the UK.

Ludger Roedder, BRAIN AG’s designated CBO, says: “I am very excited about the manifold tasks in store for me expanding BRAIN into a fully integrated market player. BRAIN is a pioneer in the field of bioeconomy, and I am delighted to strengthen its growth in the international product business in particular.”

In parallel with the forthcoming appointment of Ludger Roedder to the board of BRAIN AG, the management has completed a periodic update of its business strategy as per the beginning of the new 2018/19 fiscal year covering the reporting period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. The update explicitly mentions an adherence to three business units in order to address the three markets most relevant for the BRAIN Group – Nutrition & Health, Skin Care, and Industrial BioSolutions. By focusing the company’s R&D activities on its pertinent fields of application this measure supports BRAIN AG’s increased market and product orientation, in particular growth in the BioIndustrial segment. Alongside the product-based BioIndustrial business segment, BioScience remains in place as a second segment for client-specific research cooperation projects in tandem with industrial partners.

Dr. Jürgen Eck, CEO of BRAIN AG, adds: “We are proud and delighted that we have been able to fill the newly created position of Chief Business Officer on the management board of BRAIN AG with such an experienced and energetic person. Ludger Roedder has everything it takes to help expand our scalable product business in a purposeful manner. The determination of three business units at BRAIN AG in order to improve our approach of addressing the markets which are most attractive for us goes hand in hand with his move to us.”

Further information:

• BRAIN AG announces the creation of SolasCure Ltd. to continue development of Aurase^®
• BRAIN AG acquires majority stake of leading speciality enzyme producer Biocatalysts Ltd.
• BRAIN AG establishes US subsidiary to strengthen business development in North America

About BRAIN

B.R.A.I.N. Biotechnology Research and Information Network AG (BRAIN AG; ISIN DE0005203947 / WKN 520394) is one of Europe’s leading technology companies in the field of industrial biotechnology, the core discipline of Bioeconomy. As such, BRAIN identifies previously untapped, efficient enzymes, microbial producer organisms or natural substances from complex biological systems that can be put to industrial use. The innovative solutions and products developed by help of this “Toolbox of Nature” are successfully applied in the chemistry, the cosmetics and the food industries. BRAIN’s business model is based on two pillars – BioScience and BioIndustrial. The BioScience segment comprises its frequently exclusive collaboration business with industrial partners. BioIndustrial comprises the development and commercialization of BRAIN’s own products and active product components. Further information is available at www.brain-biotech.de/en.