Christine Roth, currently head of GlaxoSmithKline’s global oncology therapy area, will join Bayer as its new oncology business head starting in March. (Bayer)

Oncology is hardly what Bayer is known for. But the German drugmaker has raided GlaxoSmithKline—which is itself reestablishing a cancer foothold—for a new leader in the field.

Christine Roth, currently head of GSK’s global oncology therapy area, will join Bayer as its new oncology business head on March 1. She replaces Robert LaCaze, who’s leaving Bayer for an undisclosed destination.

Roth has her work cut out for her. At a company that only plays in a corner of the oncology market, Roth will set out to lead the charge of realizing Bayer’s blockbuster expectations for prostate cancer med Nubeqa amid tough competition from rivals.

Christine Roth (Bayer)

Bayer has historically been a major cardiovascular disease player. The aspirin maker’s top-selling med is Johnson & Johnson-partnered blood thinner Xarelto, which brought in 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) sales for the company in the first nine months of 2021. By comparison, its best-selling oncology products, liver cancer therapies Stivarga and Nexavar, only ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, in its overall pharma portfolio. The drugs generated combined sales of 701 million euros during the same period.