Lonza, the world's leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has announced the appointment of Samanta Cimitan as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Senior Vice President and Member of the Extended Executive Committee. She will join the company by January 1, 2027. This newly created role is a key element of Lonza's One Lonza strategy, designed to streamline customer engagement and deliver a harmonized go-to-market approach across all business platforms.
Cimitan brings extensive business leadership experience in the CDMO industry, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Celonic Group. Her previous tenure at Lonza spanned nearly 13 years, where she held commercial and strategy leadership positions, including Vice President of Lonza Group Operations Strategy. In that role, she developed and led transformation programs across Commercial, R&D, and Operations. Her deep understanding of Lonza's capabilities and her proven track record in commercial strategy and customer partnerships make her well-suited for this new position.
In her new role, Cimitan will lead Strategic Enterprise Account Management, Global Marketing, and Commercial Excellence. She will have direct commercial responsibility for Lonza's strategic accounts and will work to create a unified approach to how customers interact with Lonza's full end-to-end offering. This includes making it easier for customers to access Lonza's science, technology, and manufacturing capabilities worldwide, across all three business platforms.
Wolfgang Wienand, Chief Executive Officer of Lonza, commented on the appointment: "Samanta's appointment to the new role of Chief Commercial Officer is another important step in building One Lonza and making the full power of the Lonza Engine work for our partners in the pharmaceutical industry. Our ambition is clear: Every customer should benefit from the unique breadth of our science, technology and manufacturing capabilities, helping them translate their breakthrough innovations into viable therapies for patients worldwide. Samanta brings deep CDMO expertise, commercial leadership experience and first-hand knowledge of Lonza. She understands what it takes to build trusted partnerships, execute with commercial discipline and create value across the full development and manufacturing journey. I am very pleased to welcome Samanta back to Lonza as we continue to sharpen our commercial focus and deliver on our purpose of making the medicines of tomorrow."
This strategic hire underscores Lonza's commitment to enhancing its commercial capabilities and ensuring that its customers can leverage the full scope of its services. With the CDMO industry becoming increasingly competitive, Lonza's focus on customer-centricity and a unified approach is crucial. The appointment is expected to strengthen Lonza's position as a partner of choice for pharma and biotech companies looking to bring innovative therapies to market efficiently.
Lonza, with its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, operates across five continents and employs approximately 20,000 colleagues. The company generated sales of CHF 3.4 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.2 billion in Half-Year 2026. For more information, visit www.lonza.com.
