Lonza's Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Daniel Palmacci as President of its Cell & Gene Division effective from 1 November, 2022.

Daniel takes over the role from Jean-Christophe Hyvert, who continues to serve as President of Lonza’s Biologics Division.

He joins Lonza Group with more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including senior positions at Novartis and Bayer Healthcare. He also brings a wealth of international experience, having previously held roles in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, India, Brazil, France, and the US.

Most recently Daniel served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Technical Operations and Executive Committee member at MorphoSys, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company. In this role, he transformed the Technical Operations function with a focus on improving its commercialization capabilities. He also oversaw the digitalization and AI strategy of MorphoSys, with a view to accelerating clinical development.

Daniel takes over leadership of Cell & Gene from Jean-Christophe Hyvert, enabling Jean-Christophe to increase his focus on his role as President of the Biologics Division.

The appointment builds on the recent achievements and ongoing growth of both Divisions under Jean-Christophe’s leadership since January 2021. The expanded Executive Committee structure provides a dedicated President for each of Lonza’s four Divisions, thereby maximizing the growth potential of each area of the business.

Albert M. Baehny, Chairman, Lonza said, “We extend a warm welcome to Daniel as he joins the Lonza Group Executive Committee and takes on the leadership of Cell & Gene. Daniel is well placed to lead our Cell & Gene Division, as a seasoned leader in the pharmaceuticals industry with a proven track record working with novel breakthrough therapies.”

Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, CEO, Lonza said, “Daniel’s expertise in leading cross-functional teams will take our diverse offerings within Cell & Gene into a new stage of growth and development. I extend my gratitude to Jean-Christophe for his dedicated leadership of both our Biologics and Cell & Gene Divisions since January 2021. With Jean-Christophe now solely dedicated to leading our Biologics offering, we are positioned to consolidate our leading market position and maintain our focus on long-term success across both Divisions.”