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, effective by 1 January 2027. This newly created role is a strategic move within the company's One Lonza initiative, designed to harmonize its go-to-market approach and strengthen customer relationships across all business platforms.
In her new capacity, 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 play a pivotal role in shaping a unified customer experience. The position aims to simplify how customers engage with Lonza, making it easier to access the company's full end-to-end offerings globally. This includes services spanning all three business platforms, ensuring that partners can leverage Lonza's comprehensive capabilities from early development to commercial manufacturing.
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." He added, "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."
Cimitan joins Lonza from the Celonic Group, where she currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. During her tenure, she led Celonic's transformation into a focused biologics CDMO, strengthening its commercial, operational, regulatory, and innovation capabilities. Prior to Celonic, she spent nearly 13 years at Lonza in various commercial and strategy leadership roles, including Vice President of Group Operations Strategy, where she developed and led transformation programs across Commercial, R&D, and Operations. This extensive background makes her well-suited to drive Lonza's commercial excellence and foster long-term partnerships.
The creation of the CCO role reflects Lonza's strategic focus on enhancing customer-centricity and operational efficiency. By centralizing commercial leadership, Lonza aims to better align its global resources and expertise to meet the evolving needs of its clients. This move is expected to improve cross-selling opportunities and ensure that customers receive seamless support throughout their product lifecycle. As the pharmaceutical industry faces increasing pressure to accelerate time-to-market and reduce costs, Lonza's integrated approach could provide a competitive advantage, offering clients a single point of access to a broad spectrum of services.
Lonza's commitment to innovation and quality is evident in its recent financial performance, with sales of CHF 3.4 billion and CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.2 billion in the first half of 2026. The company operates across five continents with a team of approximately 20,000 colleagues, collaborating with pharma and biotech companies to bring life-saving treatments to patients. With Cimitan's appointment, Lonza is poised to further solidify its position as a leader in the CDMO industry, driving growth through enhanced commercial strategies and a unified corporate vision.
