Lonza appoints Pierre-Alain Ruffieux as new CEO

The Board of Lonza announced that Pierre-Alain Ruffieux has been appointed Chief Executive Officer effective 1 November 2020.

Ruffieux is currently Head of Global Pharma Technical Operations at Roche where he and his 12,000-strong team are responsible for all aspects of pharmaceutical commercial manufacturing and supply chain operations, technical, quality assurance and regulatory. Prior to that he held roles of increasing seniority at Novartis and has over 20 years’ experience in biopharmaceuticals.

Albert Baehny, Chairman of the Board said, “The Board is delighted to have appointed someone of Pierre-Alain’s calibre to be our next CEO. He brings deep knowledge of our industry, scientific excellence, customer focus and a strong record of building and leading high-performing and inclusive teams. Manufacturing and process excellence are central to Lonza and our customers’ success. Pierre-Alain has unrivalled experience in these areas in two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies which will also be a great asset to the Lonza Group.”

“We warmly welcome Pierre-Alain to Lonza and look forward to his starting in November. At that point, Albert will relinquish his position as CEO ad interim and return to his role as non-executive Chairman. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I should like to thank Albert for stepping into the CEO role and for continuing to drive the company forward both operationally and strategically,” Christoph Maeder, Lead Independent Director commented.

On his appointment, Ruffieux  said, “I am delighted to have been appointed as CEO of Lonza. Having been a customer over many years, I greatly admire Lonza’s technology and people. I look forward to building on its many successes in the years to come.”