Albert Baehny

Albert Baehny
Nationality	Swiss
Occupation	Business executive, corporate chairman
Title	Chairman of the Board of Directors, Geberit (2021–present); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lonza Group (2018–2024)
Known for	Chairman of Geberit, Chairman of Lonza Group

Albert Baehny is a Swiss business executive who has served in senior leadership roles at several major Swiss corporations. He is best known for his tenure as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Geberit, the Swiss manufacturer of sanitary products, and for his role as Chairman of Lonza Group, the multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. During his six-year chairmanship of Lonza, Baehny oversaw a period of significant transformation in the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) sector, navigating leadership transitions and strategic decisions that shaped the company's trajectory in the global biopharmaceuticals industry. His career in Swiss industry has spanned several decades, during which he held executive positions that placed him at the intersection of manufacturing, technology, and life sciences. Baehny announced his retirement from the Lonza chairmanship in January 2024, stepping down in May of that year after guiding the company through a period marked by both rapid growth and organizational upheaval.

Career

Geberit

Albert Baehny has been closely associated with Geberit, the Swiss multinational group specializing in sanitary technology and bathroom ceramics. He served as the company's Chief Executive Officer before transitioning to the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors. His leadership at Geberit established his reputation as a prominent figure in Swiss corporate governance and industrial management.

Chairman of Lonza Group

Baehny assumed the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lonza Group in 2018. Lonza Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is a multinational manufacturing company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and nutrition sectors. The company operates major facilities across Europe, North America, and South Asia, and provides product development services to the pharmaceutical and biologic industries, including custom manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.

During Baehny's tenure as chairman, Lonza underwent substantial changes in its executive leadership. The company experienced a notable period of CEO turnover that drew attention from industry analysts and investors. In September 2023, CEO Pierre-Alain Ruffieux departed the company unexpectedly. According to industry analysis, the departure was attributed to the board's loss of confidence in Ruffieux's execution of the company's strategy. This was not the first unexpected leadership change at Lonza; Marc Funk, who had preceded Ruffieux, also left the company after a relatively brief tenure as CEO.

In March 2024, it was announced that Marc Funk, who had returned to serve as CEO on an interim basis, would be stepping down again for personal reasons. Baehny himself assumed interim leadership responsibilities during this transition period, taking over operational oversight while the board conducted its search for a permanent replacement.

Strategic Decisions at Lonza

As chairman, Baehny was involved in key strategic decisions regarding Lonza's positioning in the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical manufacturing landscape. In November 2023, amid growing global demand for obesity drugs such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, Baehny publicly ruled out plans for Lonza to use its capacity to fill syringes and provide final production steps for new obesity treatments. This decision reflected the company's strategic focus on its core competencies in biopharmaceutical manufacturing rather than diversifying into the fill-finish segment of obesity drug production.

Under Baehny's chairmanship, Lonza also navigated a period of significant industry demand related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company played a role in scaling up manufacturing capacity for vaccine production, including work related to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. In 2020, Lonza was involved in scaling up ex-US COVID-19 vaccine capacity as part of broader efforts to address global demand. Lonza announced further developments in its manufacturing capabilities during this period.

By the end of 2023, Lonza reported revenue figures, operating income of CHF 880 million, net income of CHF 655 million, total assets of CHF 16.8 billion, equity of CHF 9.51 billion, and a workforce of approximately 18,000 employees.

CEO Succession and Retirement

In January 2024, Lonza announced that Baehny would step down as chairman in May of that year after six years in the role. The announcement was part of a broader senior management reshuffle at the company. The news was received positively by investors, with Lonza shares rising on the announcement as the company simultaneously confirmed its margin targets.

The search for a new CEO culminated in April 2024 with the appointment of Wolfgang Wienand, who had been serving as CEO of Siegfried, a rival Swiss CDMO. Wienand was set to transition into the role over the summer of 2024. The hiring was described by industry observers as Lonza "poaching" a CEO from a competitor, reflecting the significance of the appointment in the CDMO sector. Lonza was simultaneously preparing to capitalize on strategic acquisitions, including the purchase of a Roche plant, as it positioned itself for further growth.

Baehny's retirement from Lonza was characterized as a planned transition, with BioProcess International noting that Wienand would "take command of Lonza as Albert Baehny retires."

Lonza's Global Operations Under Baehny's Chairmanship

During Baehny's period as chairman, Lonza continued to expand its global manufacturing footprint. The company had previously established significant operations in multiple regions. In the United States, Lonza opened a cell and gene therapy facility in Pearland, Texas, reflecting the growing importance of advanced therapy manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical industry.

In South Asia, Lonza had invested approximately Rs 250 crore in Genome Valley, a biotechnology hub located near Hyderabad, India, establishing a bio-pharma unit as part of the company's strategy to expand its manufacturing presence in the region. The company had received an allotment of 30 acres of land in Genome Valley for this purpose.

Lonza's history as a company dates to the late 19th century, when it was established in Switzerland. The company's evolution from its origins to a modern multinational CDMO represented a significant corporate transformation, much of which accelerated during the period when Baehny served on the board and as chairman.

Lonza's shares are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange as a component of the Swiss Market Index (SMI), underscoring the company's position as one of Switzerland's most significant publicly listed corporations.

Legacy

Albert Baehny's tenure at Lonza Group coincided with a transformative period for the global CDMO industry, driven by the increasing outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing and the unprecedented demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his chairmanship, Lonza maintained its position as one of the world's largest CDMOs, with operations spanning multiple continents and a workforce of approximately 18,000 employees by 2023.

The multiple CEO transitions during Baehny's chairmanship—including the departures of Marc Funk and Pierre-Alain Ruffieux—attracted scrutiny from analysts and investors, raising questions about board governance and executive stability at the company. However, the positive market reaction to the announcement of his planned retirement and the simultaneous confirmation of financial targets in January 2024 suggested that investors viewed the leadership transition favorably as a step toward organizational stability.

Baehny's decision to steer Lonza away from the obesity drug fill-finish market, despite the substantial commercial opportunity presented by GLP-1 receptor agonists, reflected a strategic discipline focused on the company's established strengths in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The appointment of Wolfgang Wienand from Siegfried as his successor's operational counterpart was seen as a signal of Lonza's intent to pursue continued growth in its core CDMO business, including leveraging acquisitions such as the Roche plant purchase to expand capacity.

His dual roles at Geberit and Lonza placed Baehny among the more prominent figures in Swiss corporate governance during the early 2020s, with responsibilities spanning the industrial manufacturing and life sciences sectors.