- Lonza appoints Christian Seufert as President of the CHI Division and member of the Executive Committee
- Christian brings a unique level of experience and expertise from a 20-year career at BASF across multiple territories and businesses
- He will commence his tenure with Lonza Group on 1 July 2022
- Christian succeeds Claude Dartiguelongue who retires from Lonza on 31 July 2022
Basel, Switzerland, 23 March 2022 – Lonza today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Christian Seufert as President of Capsules and Health Ingredients Division. The appointment will be effective from 1 July 2022. Christian will succeed Claude Dartiguelongue as a member of the Lonza Group Executive Committee.
Christian joins Lonza Group from BASF, where he has worked for the last 20 years. Most recently, he held the role of Senior Vice President for the Global Business Unit Pharma Solutions and represented the Nutrition & Health division in North and South America since 2018. In this role, Christian was responsible for driving organic growth with a focus on biologics and new digital business models. With his global team he delivered new product line strategies for selected APIs and pharmaceutical excipients, improved operational excellence, and managed business continuity through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Albert M. Baehny, Chairman, Lonza, commented: “We extend a warm welcome to Christian as he joins the Lonza Group Executive Committee. Christian will lead a thriving Division which delivers strong cash generation and shows high long-term potential. His knowledge and understanding of our business will help us to achieve further improvements in operational excellence while continuing our growth journey.”
Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, CEO, Lonza, added: “Christian is uniquely placed to lead our CHI business, with a wealth of experience and expertise in both our operations as well as the industry in which we operate. Christian joins our leadership team as we continue to consolidate our leading market position and maintain our focus on driving accelerated growth and long-term success.”
Prior to his most recent role in BASF, Christian held multiple roles with increasing levels of responsibility in BASF Group. Other roles have included Vice President of the global Aroma Ingredients business (2015 – 2018) and Vice President for the European Business Management Home Care, Industrial and Institutional Cleaning (2012 – 2014).
Christian holds a graduate degree in business administration and economics from the University of Hohenheim as well as Executive and post-graduate qualifications from INSEAD and IMD Business School (Lausanne, Switzerland). He is relocating from the US to live in Basel with his wife.
Christian will succeed Claude Dartiguelongue, who has been the President of the Capsules and Health Ingredients Division since January 2020. Claude has played a critical role in creating a clear organizational structure and performance culture in the CHI Division, as well as maintaining a focus on quality and speed. She has set the strategic direction of the Division, while enhancing the approach to customer-centricity and value creation. As part of her role on the Executive Committee, Claude has also played an instrumental role in strategic projects across the Group.
Claude will retire on 31 July 2022. She is a highly regarded member of the Lonza leadership and she will be greatly missed by her colleagues. The Lonza management would like to thank her for her many valuable contributions, and wish her a well-deserved happy retirement.
Notes to editors
A high-resolution image of Christian is available on request from media@lonza.com.
