Board of Directors

Gilbert Achermann - Chairman
Gilbert Achermann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Group.
Gilbert Achermann, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1964
Position: Chairman of the Board of Directors
Member1,2 since: 2020

Gilbert Achermann, member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Holding AG.

After completing his banking apprenticeship at the Bankverein and HWV in St. Gallen, he worked from 1988 to 1998, at UBS in investment banking in Switzerland and abroad.

In 1998 he moved to the MedTech industry as CFO at Straumann, where he was appointed CEO in 2002 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Straumann Holding AG in 2010. In this function, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the academic partner organisation ITI (International Team for Team for Implantology).

In addition, Gilbert Achermann was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Siegfried Holding AG in Zofingen and of Vitra Holding AG in Birsfelden.

Since 2012, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Private Bank Julius Baer, since 2016, a committee member of the Chamber of Commerce of both Basle cantons, since 2016, a member of the Supervisory Board of the IMD in Lausanne and, since 2020, a member of the Board of Swiss Medtech.

In addition, he is a jury member of Venture Kick and an active investor in Swiss start-ups.

Betül Susamis Unaran - Member
Betül Susamis Unaran, member of the Board of Directors
Betül Susamis Unaran, member of the Board of Directors

Nationality: Swiss and Turkish
Year of birth: 1976
Position: Member of the Board of Directors
Member1 since: 2021

Betül Susamis Unaran, member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Holding AG.

After graduating from Bogazici University with a degree in industrial engineering, she started her career working in several positions at Procter & Gamble in Istanbul and Frankfurt. Following her MBA at INSEAD, she joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant in 2004 and worked in London and Geneva offices in different industries with a focus on healthcare, strategy and transformation. From 2012-2017 she worked at Ferring Pharmaceuticals where she acted first as Director of Global Operations and then as Global Head of Digital. She continued to be Global Head of Digital Medicines at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and member of the Global Commercial Leadership Team of Novartis Pharma as well as Global Digital Leadership Team of Novartis from 2018-2019.

She currently works as Chief Strategy and Digital Officer at Zur Rose Group AG, the biggest e-commerce pharmacy in Europe, where she is responsible for the group strategy and realizing the digital vision of the group to become the healthcare ecosystem of Europe. She was also a member of the Advisory Board of NATIVE in 2020, a leading design agency in London and San Francisco. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Lumanity, an Arsenal Capital Partners company with a vision to accelerate and optimise access to medical advances.

Paul Fonteyne - Member
Paul Fonteyne, member of the Board of Directors
Paul Fonteyne, member of the Board of Directors

Nationality: US and Belgium
Year of birth: 1961
Position: Member of the Board of Directors
Member1,2 since: 2018

Paul Fonteyne, member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Holding AG.

After graduating from Brussels University with a degree in chemical engineering and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he held various positions at Abbott Laboratories Inc. and Merck and Co. Inc.

He joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Group in 2003. For the first five years, he headed the Human Pharmaceuticals Division in the USA. From 2008 to 2011, he lived in Germany to lead the worldwide marketing team for human pharmaceuticals. During his tenure at the Boehringer Ingelheim Group, the company experienced strong sales, profit and profitability growth in the USA.

From 2012 to 2018, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA as well as Country Managing Director for the United States. Paul Fonteyne previously served as Chairman of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), and was a member of the board of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), as well as ResTORbio Inc. (until 2020) and AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (until 2020).

He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Covetrus Inc. (since 2021) and of four biotechnology companies Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Gelesis Inc. and Appelis Pharmaceutical Inc., all based in Boston, and Dal- Cor Inc., based in London.

He is associated as Executive in Residence with Canaan Partners (Venture Capital).

Dr. Martin Münchbach - Member
Dr. Martin Münchbach, member of the Board of Directors
Dr. Martin Münchbach, member of the Board of Directors

Nationality: Germany and Switzerland
Year of birth: 1970
Position: Member of the Board of Directors
Member1 since: 2019

Dr. Martin Münchbach, member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Holding AG.

After graduating from the ETH Zurich in natural sciences with a doctorate in protein chemistry and a post-graduate degree in economics, business and management sciences from the ETH Zurich, he worked in various positions for venture capital companies in Switzerland.

He is currently Managing Partner of Pureos Bioventures, a venture capital company specializing in early-stage financing for the promotion of innovative young drug development companies with a focus on Switzerland and Europe. Through his work as a venture capitalist, he has built up numerous medical technology and biotechnology companies that have brought innovative drugs and diagnostics to market.

Martin Münchbach is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Ariceum Therapeutics in Munich, Germany, Alentis Therapeutics AG in Basel,  Binx Health Ltd. in Trowbridge, UK and River Renal Inc. in New York USA.

Simon Michel - Member
Simon Michel - CEO and Member of the Board
Simon Michel - CEO and Member of the Board

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1977
Position: Member of the Board of Directors
Member3 since: 2022

Simon Michel, member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed Holding AG.

CEO of the Ypsomed Holding AG

  • With Ypsomed since October 2006
  • Member of Executive Management since 2008 and responsible for Marketing & Sales
  • CEO since July 2014.

From 2003 until 2006, Simon Michel worked for Orange Communications AG, where he was responsible for, among other things, the introduction and marketing of UMTS.

Simon Michel studied economics at the University of St. Gallen and completed a Masters with a focus on media and communications management.

He is a Member of the Board of Directors of Unitectra AG, sitem-insel AG, Forster Rohner AG and of LEM Surgical AG. Simon Michel has been a member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce in the Cantons of Berne and Solothurn and since 2015 a member of the board of Swiss Medtech since 2015.

Since 2017, he has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of DCB Research AG, which works closely with the University Hospital UDEM of the Insel Group and researches new therapeutic approaches to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes. Since 2021, he has also been Chairman of the Board of Ahueni AG, a company involved in the development and trading of CO2 certificates in Africa.

Simon Michel was elected to the Cantonal Council of the Canton of Solothurn in March 2017.

1 Non-executive member of the Board of Directors: no operational activity for Ypsomed Holding AG and its subsidiaries in the current year and the three preceding financial years.

2 Member of the Compensation Committee.

3 Executive member of the Board of Directors.

Executive Management

Simon Michel - Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Simon Michel - Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Simon Michel - Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1977
Position: CEO of the Ypsomed Holding AG
At Ypsomed since: 2006

  • With Ypsomed since October 2006
  • Member of Executive Management since 2008 and responsible for Marketing & Sales
  • CEO since July 2014.

From 2003 until 2006, Simon Michel worked for Orange Communications AG, where he was responsible for, among other things, the introduction and marketing of UMTS.

Simon Michel studied economics at the University of St. Gallen and completed a Masters with a focus on media and communications management.

He is a Member of the Board of Directors of Unitectra AG, sitem-insel AG, Forster Rohner AG and LEM Surgical AG. Simon Michel has been a member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce in the Cantons of Berne and Solothurn and since 2015 a member of the board of Swiss Medtech since 2015.

Since 2017, he has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of DCB Research AG, which works closely with the University Hospital UDEM of the Insel Group and researches new therapeutic approaches to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes. Since 2021, he has also been Chairman of the Board of Ahueni AG, a company involved in the development and trading of CO2 certificates in Africa.

Simon Michel was elected to the Cantonal Council of the Canton of Solothurn in March 2017.

Ulrike Bauer - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDS
Ulrike Bauer - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDS
Ulrike Bauer - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDS

Nationality: Germany and Switzerland
Year of birth: 1969
Position: Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDS
At Ypsomed since: 2001

With Ypsomed (pre-2003 with Disetronic) since 2001 in different functions and since 2014 a member of Executive Management and responsible for the Delivery Systems business area. Previously Product Manager with Mettler Toledo (1996 – 2001).

She has a degree in chemical engineering and biotechnology at the University of Applied Sciences Aachen and completed a postgraduate diploma in International Management at the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences in Zurich.

Sébastien Delarive - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDC
Sébastien Delarive - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDC
Sébastien Delarive - Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDC

Nationality: Swiss
Year of birth: 1970
Position: Chief Business Officer (CBO) YDC
At Ypsomed since: 29 June 2022

Sébastien studied chemistry at the EPFL Lausanne. After his studies, he started his career in sales at Astra and Biokema. He then moved to the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, where he held various management positions in France, Scandinavia, the USA, Japan and Latin America. Most recently, he was Head of Europe at Sanofi, where he was responsible for the Medical Division.

Niklaus Ramseier - Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Niklaus Ramseier - Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Niklaus Ramseier - Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1963
Position: Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
At Ypsomed since: 2002

With Ypsomed (pre-2003 with Disetronic) since 2002, prior to that Head of Finance and Controlling for the industrial services product line of the Von Roll Group (from 1995 until 2002) and various advisory and accounting functions within a trust and auditing company. Education: Swiss certified expert in accounting and controlling.

Frank Mengis - Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Frank Mengis - Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Frank Mengis - Chief Operations Officer (COO)

Nationality: Germany and Switzerland
Year of birth: 1964
Position: Chief Operations Officer (COO)
At Ypsomed since: 2015

With Ypsomed since 2015 as a Member of Executive Management and responsible for Production, Supply Chain and QM&RA.

He has many years of experience in the development and manufacturing of medical devices: former COO and member of management at Nobel Biocare AG, responsible for the global production sites and global supply chain. In the years 2001 to 2012 he held various management functions in the Straumann Group in Switzerland and the USA in the areas of quality management, production and development.

After graduating, he started his career at Hoffmann La Roche AG in Basle in the Engineering Department (1990 – 1999). Of German-Swiss dual nationality, he graduated as Dipl. Ing. Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University Karlsruhe followed by further training at the IMD Lausanne and the Harvard Business School (AMP Programme).

He ws from 2017 - 2021 a member of the Board of Qualitech AG and since June 2021 he has been an advisor at Qualitech AG. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Nemis Technologies AG since June 2021.

Michael Zaugg - Chief Corporate Officer (CCO)
Michael Zaugg - Chief Corporate Officer (CCO)
Michael Zaugg - Chief Corporate Officer (CCO)

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1972
Position: Chief Corporate Officer (CCO)
At Ypsomed since: 2017

With Ypsomed since 2017. Since 2020 also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ypsomed Group Pension Fund Foundation. From 2011 to 2017 he was employed as Head of Talent Europe at ABB. Previous positions included HR at Credit Suisse: Division HR Manager, Head of Graduate Recruiting & Development and University Marketing (1997 to 2004). Furthermore he was Consultant and Management Member at schärpartners ag (2004 to 2007), Head of HR Services at Valiant Holding (2007 to 2008) and Head of HR Recruiting at BKW FMB AG (2008 to 2011).

Michael Zaugg held several part-time mandates: Member of the Board of Directors at Poolside AG in Zurich, Member of the Board at IngCH, lecturer at the ZfU and the University of St. Gallen Further Education Centre in the field of Talent Management, as well as the University of Bern on the topic of “Leadership in an innovative environment”, and President of the ABB Childcare Centres.

Education: studied Economics at the University of Basel (degree: lic.rer.pol) with business focus on personnel management and marketing and environmental economics. Executive Master of Human Resources Management at the Institute for Applied Psychology in Zurich.

Dr. Beat Maurer - Chief Legal Officer (CLO)
Dr. Beat Maurer - Chief Legal Officer (CLO)
Dr. Beat Maurer - Chief Legal Officer (CLO)

Nationality: Switzerland
Year of birth: 1958
Position: Chief Legal Officer (CLO)
At Ypsomed since: 1992

With Ypsomed (pre-2003 with Disetronic) since 1992, prior to that tax and legal consultant with a trust and auditing company.

Education: degree in Law from the University of Fribourg, studied at the Free University of Berlin, took a doctorate in law at the University of Bern and was admitted to the bar in the Canton of Bern.

Beat Maurer has been a judge specialising in issues relating to business law and intellectual property law at the commercial court of the Canton of Bern since 2002. He is also President of Swiss Medtech’s “Legal & Compliance” Group.