Ownership and leadership

Michael Kocher

Michael joined Xellia as Chief Executive Officer in October 2023. Prior to joining Xellia, he held the position of Head of Global B2B in Sandoz and Novartis Country President Austria. He has more than a decade of experience in commercial leadership roles at Novartis and Sandoz and extensive experience within the global pharmaceutical and anti-infective industry.

Michael holds both a Master’s degree in Chemistry from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and a Master’s in Marketing and Economics from the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Gaël Bernard

Gaël, a French national, has an extensive career in the pharmaceutical industry dating back to 1996, demonstrating a strong track record in driving growth and strategic expansion. Since joining Xellia in 2008, Gaël has held various executive and senior positions, including Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Chief Commercial Officer.

Before Xellia, Gaël worked with both branded and generic pharmaceuticals at Alpharma Pharmaceuticals and Actavis Pharmaceuticals, holding several senior roles such as Global Vice President and CEO in China, Denmark and France.

Gaël's educational background includes degrees from ISPG-ESA3 Business School in Paris, studies at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in China, and executive education from London Business School. In 2023, Gaël began an Executive MBA program at AVT Business School in Denmark.

Florian Falch

Florian joined Xellia in September 2023 as Vice President Transformation. Before joining Xellia, he spent more than 8 years at Sandoz where he led various Strategy, Transformation and M&A activities with a focus on the Anti-Infectives portfolio as well as the B2B channel of the company. Prior to that, he worked as a management consultant at KPMG.

Florian holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Lund University, Sweden, as well as a diploma in Management & Law from Management Center Innsbruck, Austria.

Søren Hostrup

Søren joined Xellia in 2008 and has since held various positions within Xellia’s legal department. He was promoted to Xellia’s Group General Counsel in 2021. Before joining Xellia, he held positions as attorney-at-law with DONG Energy, Novo Nordisk and Bech-Bruun Law Firm.

Søren holds a Master’s degree in Law from Copenhagen University and a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (Finance) from Copenhagen Business School.

Christian Matschke

Christian Matschke joined Xellia Pharmaceuticals in December 2024 as Chief Operations Officer. With over 20 years of experience in operational roles within the pharmaceutical industry, Christian brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to the team.

Before joining Xellia, Christian spent the last decade as a member of the Executive Board at Berlin-Chemie, where he played a pivotal role in optimizing operational efficiency and driving organizational growth. His career has also included impactful tenures at Novartis, Sandoz, and Altana Pharma/Nycomed, where he honed his skills across a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical operations.

Christian holds a degree in Pharmacy from the Philipps University of Marburg and earned his PhD from the University of Basel, specializing in Sustained Release Injectables for Veterinary Use and a BBA from GSBA Zürich.

Vicente Oller Más

Vicente joined Xellia Pharmaceuticals in September 2024 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Before that, he was the CFO of the Global B2B business at Sandoz and simultaneously served as the Country CFO for Sandoz Austria.

After finishing his business studies, including an MBA at ESADE and the International Management Program at HEC, he started his career as an auditor at Arthur Andersen in Spain and joined Novartis Spain in 2005.

Having held key financial leadership roles in originator and generics companies across commercial, development and manufacturing units, Vicente brings over 20 years of extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Xellia.

Alexander Sproedt

Alexander joined Xellia Pharmaceuticals in November 2024 as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer. With over a decade of experience in the Life Sciences sector, Alexander brings a unique background spanning Big Biopharma, Generics, Biotech, CDMO, and MedTech. He joined us after 10 years at McKinsey & Company, where he became a Partner in 2021. 

Throughout his career, Alexander has found its passion in driving multidisciplinary transformations in mid-sized companies, driving step-changes to enhance their performance, organizational effectiveness and foster innovative ways of working. His functional focus spans Operations (including Procurement, Supply Chain, Manufacturing), and Strategy. 
 
Alexander holds a diploma in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and a PhD in Industrial Management from the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.