Dowdeswell, who joins Siegfried from Lonza, will become Chief Business Officer for the Drug Substances segment at the Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and a member of the executive committee. The actual start date s has not yet been announced. He supports Marianne Späne, who was previously responsible for business development for both segments – Drug Substances and Drug Products – and who will remain in charge of finished dosage forms.

Dowdeswell holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Teesside University, UK. He began his career at Maybridge Chemicals, followed by positions at Synprotec and Contract Chemicals. In 1998, he started at Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals. In 2014, he joined Lonza as sales manager Europe, where he subsequently led commercial development for chemical and microbial manufacturing and the Dosage Form and Delivery Systems business unit before being appointed vice president and global head of Commercial Development for Lonza's small molecule custom manufacturing business in 2020.

Wolfgang Wienand, CEO of Siegfried, said: "In light of our ambitions to deliver long-term profitable growth, we want to leverage the capabilities and capacities of our global network in the best possible way, deepen the relationships with existing customers and further expand our customer base towards new clients.”

Marianne Späne will focus on Drug Products, including the Covid vaccines business, which has recently experienced strong organic growth and has been expanded through the acquisition of the two Novartis manufacturing sites in Barberà del Vallès and El Masnou, Spain.