Swiss multinational chemicals and biotechnology company Lonza appointed former Novartis executive Philippe Deecke as new Chief Financial Officer of the company. He will assume the role from December this year. He will succeed Rodolfo Savitzky to become a member of the Lonza Executive Committee. 

Prior to Novartis, Deecke has had a 16 year long association with Novartis where he has held various senior financial positions like Global CFO for Sandoz, CFO of Alcon EMEA and  Head of Management Reporting and Corporate Planning for the Novartis Group. Most recently, he was the Global CFO at Novartis Oncology. He was leading the long-term financial performance, planning, controlling, reporting and compliance of a major Novartis business unit as the Global CFO.  Before he joined Novartis, Deecke worked at McKinsey as Associate Principal for more than six years. He was also a respected member of the European Pharma and Medical Products Practice. He specialized in developing growth strategies for a wide range of clients in the pharmaceutical industry in this role

Albert M. Baehny, Chairman, Lonza, said that he is glad to have Deecke in the Lonza family at a critical strategic point of business growth and operational excellence. 

Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, CEO, Lonza, stated that Deecke brings rich experience and accurate finesse which will be invaluable in driving Lonza’s strong market position and long-term success.