Hans-Beat Gürtler has a commercial education and spent most of his professional career with Ciba-Geigy and Novartis. He held various positions with growing responsibility in the agricultural and animal health field in Switzerland and abroad. From 1990 to 2002, he was global CEO of Novartis Animal Health. In late 2002, he joined Varuma, a private investor. He serves as a Board Member in various companies.