Arthur J. Higgins, former chairman of the board of management of Bayer HealthCare, has joined The Blackstone Group’s dedicated healthcare group, Blackstone Healthcare Partners.
Higgins will join healthcare veterans Lodewijk de Vink and Doug Rogers in providing industry knowledge and expertise to private equity transactions.
Blackstone Healthcare Partners is an integral part of the firm’s global effort in sourcing, analysing and overseeing investments in pharmaceuticals and medical products. Blackstone Healthcare Group’s investments include Nycomed, Gerresheimer, Stiefel Laboratories, and Catalent.
Tony James, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, says “With the addition of Arthur Higgins we have further strengthened Blackstone Healthcare Partners. They offer a unique value to companies wishing to access focused industry expertise of this group of leading healthcare stars along with capital to fund growth."
Higgins had been chairman of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee since 1 July 2004, and chairman of the board of management of Bayer HealthCare since 1 January 2006. During his tenure at Bayer, Higgins led the restructuring and strengthening of Bayer HealthCare including the acquisition and integration of Schering and the over-the-counter medicines business of Roche.
Higgins started his career in 1978 in Britain with Bristol-Myers. He subsequently worked for Sandoz (1979 to 1984) and Fisons (1984 to 1987) before moving to Abbott Laboratories in the US (1987 to 2001), where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the international and domestic divisions, including a two-year posting in Germany. He was appointed president of the pharmaceutical products division in Chicago in 1998.
In 2001, Higgins was appointed chairman and chief executive of Enzon Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey. In this function, he also served as chairman of the Biotech Council of New Jersey and on the board of the US National Pharmaceutical Council.
Higgins has been a member of the executive committee of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a member of the executive council of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations and president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Association. He is a member of the board of directors of Zimmer, Eco Labs and Resverlogix.
