ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss contract drug manufacturer Lonza Group (S:LONN) on Friday named Roche manager Pierre-Alain Ruffieux as its new chief executive, effective Nov. 1, underscoring its focus on its fast-growing pharmaceuticals business.
Lonza said this week it aimed to speed up work on two commercial production lines for Moderna Inc's (O:MRNA) trial COVID-19 vaccine so manufacturing could start earlier this year than planned if the project is successful.
Ruffieux, 50, is now the head of global pharma technical operations at drugmaker Roche (S:ROG), Lonza said in a statement. Before that he spent 12 years at Novartis (S:NOVN) and has more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals.
Lonza Chairman and interim Chief Executive Albert Baehny had said in January the group aimed to hire a drug industry veteran as chief executive.
The two previous chief executives, Richard Ridinger and Marc Funk, quit Lonza last year within eight months of each other. Funk's departure for "personal reasons" took investors by surprise and left Baehny, the former CEO of plumbing equipment maker Geberit (S:GEBN), in charge.
"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," Ruffieux said in the statement.
Lonza is in the midst of carving out Lonza Specialty Ingredients (LSI), the lagging chemicals division being separated into a stand-alone unit, potentially a step towards disposing of or spinning off the business.
Lonza shares, which have risen nearly a third this year, were indicated 1.1% higher in pre-market activity