Baehny’s time at Lonza is about to end: Wolfgang Wienand becomes the new CEO of Lonza

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Albert Baehny’s (71) term as sole ruler of the world’s largest pharmaceutical supplier will end in the summer. Baehny has been serving as interim CEO and Chairman of the Board since the dismissal of CEO Pierre Alain Ruffieux (50) in October 2023. Wolfgang Wienand (52) will take over Lonza’s management chair from summer 2024, Lonza announced on Tuesday morning.

“The Board of Directors is pleased to appoint an experienced CEO with a strong and established track record in the CDMO industry,” Baehny said in a statement Tuesday. Wienand comes from a smaller rival in Lonza.

The German currently serves as CEO of Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Siegfried Holding AG. He has been holding this position since 2019. Wienand previously served on Siegfried’s leadership team as Chief Scientific Officer and then Chief Strategy Officer. Before joining Siegfried in 2010, Wienand held a number of increasingly senior positions at German specialty chemicals company Evonik Industries.

Change in leadership position

Albert Baehny has been at the helm of Lonza since 2018 and is replacing the CEO for the third time. After Richard Ridinger (66), Mark Funk (60) and then Pierre-Alain Ruffieux took the management seat at Lonza. Now Wienand follows him. It’s actually a vibrant change for a successful company. “The changes are causing unrest in the group. For a truly successful company, this accumulation does not exactly reflect stability,” Raiffeisen investment director Matthias Geissbühler (48) told Blick last autumn.

Baehny is known to have a strong operational impact on the business. Also, the chief position at Lonza under Baehny is a real ejection seat. This made the search for a successor even more challenging.

Baehny will also give up his Chairmanship seat in May. He will not run for re-election.

Source :Blick