25 Jul 2024
Lonza Nominates Juan Andres and Eric Drapé as Independent Board Members
  • Two new nominees will bring extensive technical operations expertise in the pharma and biotech industry, with broad and fresh international perspectives
  • Juan Andres brings deep strategic understanding of technical operations and quality. Most recently, he was President, Strategic Partnerships and Enterprise Expansion at Moderna
  • Eric Drapé has held multiple international pharma leadership roles focused on manufacturing and quality. Most recently, he was Head of Global Operations at Teva Pharmaceuticals

Basel, Switzerland, 25 July 2024 - Today, the Lonza Board of Directors announced the nomination of Juan Andres and Eric Drapé as Independent Members of the Board. The Board will propose to shareholders the election of both nominees at the Lonza Group Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May 2025.

This announcement follows a recent update which reported measures to improve Board governance, succession planning and focus on organizational health. Building on these changes, the two new proposed members will increase the Board’s size to ten.

Juan Andres, a Spanish national, has a career spanning more than 35 years during which he has held a variety of leadership positions. Most recently he was President, Strategic Partnerships and Enterprise Expansion at Moderna, where he led the technical development, scale-up and worldwide supply of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. Before joining Moderna, Juan held roles as Head of Technical Operations as well as Head of Quality at Novartis. Prior to that, he spent more than 15 years at Eli Lilly. Juan’s deep understanding of the pharma and biotech industry is complemented by international business expertise, having spent time in Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Juan is a Board Member at Avantor.

Eric Drapé, a French national, most recently held the role of EVP, Head of Global Operations, Company Officer and Member of the Executive Committee at Teva Pharmaceuticals. In this role, he oversaw operations across more than 50 sites. For more than 35 years, Eric has served in multiple leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry, covering global operations and quality at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Ipsen Pharma and Novo Nordisk. He brings a wealth of international experience, having held positions in the Denmark, France, Israel and the US. Eric Drapé will join the Board after the expiry of current contractual commitments, effective 14 May 2025.

Jean-Marc Huët, Board Chairman, Lonza, commented: “I would like to take this chance to congratulate Juan and Eric on behalf of the Board for their nomination. Both nominees share extensive leadership experience, alongside diverse and complementary backgrounds that are well suited to Lonza today. Juan brings strong strategic capabilities, and both leaders bring deep manufacturing expertise that is highly relevant for our business. Juan and Eric know the CDMO industry well and have been customers of Lonza in the past. This fresh external perspective will bring valuable insights to support our focus on delivering innovation, operational excellence, and outstanding customer service.”

Notes to Editors:

Biographies can be accessed through the following links:

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