Ins & outs: Leadership shuffles at CDMOs

Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza has appointed Jean-Marc Huët as its chairman. Huët, who is currently the chairman of Heineken succeeds Albert Baehny. 

Baehny, who took the helm of the CDMO some six years ago and has been a board member for seven years, will not be standing for re-election at the firm’s annual general meeting (AGM) in May 2024.

“I am very pleased that Jean-Marc Huët is nominated to succeed me as chairman. With his comprehensive experience in the strategic and financial management of global companies, Jean-Marc is well placed to further develop Lonza in a constantly changing market and investor environment,” said Albert Baehny.

“With his profile, he fully meets the requirements defined by the board of directors to be chairman for the next chapter in Lonza’s story.” 

Huët was formerly the chief financial officer of Unilever. He has also worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Royal Numico. Until Huët’s appointment, Baehny will remain CEO ad interim of Lonza.

Rentschler

Rentschler has appointed Senta Brandt as global position of head of transformation, and Gerrick Rodrigues as global head of IT. They succeed Martin Keßler and Wolfram Schulze, who previously led transformation and IT teams, respectively. With the appointment, both Brandt and Rodriques are a part of the CDMO’s global leadership team.

In her recent role as the company’s senior director production, Brandt has coalesced transformative processes into production and has strong expertise in team and employee development. She is based at the firm’s Laupheim site in Germany, and her appointment came into effect on January 1, 2024 

“I am honored to take on the global responsibility for Transformation. It is exciting to be able to apply my diverse experience from 14 years in production and transformation to leading our continual improvement and innovation work,” said Brandt.

Furthermore, Rodrigues will lead the firm’s IT department to deliver technology solutions and services. According to the firm, Rodrigues has been a key player in the development and implementation of digitalization roadmap for the Rentschler Biopharma Manufacturing Center (RBMC). He is based at the firm’s Milford site in the US, and his appointment came into effect on February 5, 2024.

“I am excited about my new role and for the opportunity to lead this important area of our business. It is incredibly motivating to collaborate daily with a talented IT team to develop and deliver technology solutions that enhance efficiency and effectiveness across the whole company,” said Rodrigues. 

Veranova 

Veranova has appointed Chris Holmes as vice president of global engineering. He will oversee the planning and execution of the company’s capital investment initiatives. 

Prior to Veranova, Holmes was the president of a strategy and management company, where he led organizations through the strategic growth process. In addition to this, he has held leadership positions at MacroGenics, USP, Invitrogen/Life Technologies (now Thermo Fisher), and Catalent. 

 “Chris’s multifaceted experience in engineering operations and management, capital project management, EHS, compliance, and strategic planning will play a key role in driving Veranova’s growth moving forward,” said Ken Zrebiec, SVP, manufacturing operations of Veranova. “He is a dedicated leader and will bring a wealth of invaluable expertise to our team.” 

Headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Veranova, which specializes in active pharmaceutical ingredients, aims to strengthen the CDMO’s global reach with this appointment.