Executive Management

Meet our Management

Lundbeck’s Management works closely together to deal with the operations and strategy that affect the entire company. These members are led by Charl van Zyl, President and CEO.   

Executive Management

Charl van Zyl

President & CEO, Born 1967

Charl van Zyl joined Lundbeck as President & CEO in September 2023. He brings more than 23 years of experience from commercial international management roles within the pharmaceutical industry, most recently in the field of immunology and neurology from UCB where he served as Executive Vice President (EVP) and Head of Neurology globally, responsible for corporate activities in Europe and international markets.

 

Besides UCB where he previously also held a position as Chief Operating Officer, his career includes positions such as EVP at BSN Medical, Corporate VP & Commercial Leader EMEA at Bausch & Lomb, CEO at JADO Technologies, Head of Marketing and Sales at Novartis Pharma and Business Unit Manager at Eli Lilly and Company.

 

Charl is British and holds a degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has lived and worked in South Africa, United States, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium and now Denmark.

Dianne Hol

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PEOPLE & CULTURE, BORN 1973

Dianne joined Lundbeck as the Executive Vice President People & Culture, April 1 2024.

 

Dianne has an impressive international background in HR leadership. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise in enhancing both company and people's performance, while building high-performing HR teams.

 

Dianne joins Lundbeck from AstraZeneca where she served as Vice President Global Human Resources in different global business areas, latest in BioPharmaceuticals & Japan. Prior to this, she was Global Head of Human Resources Roche Diabetes Care. 

 

Dianne holds a Bachelor of Arts Human Resources Management Hogeschool van Utrecht, Netherlands

Joerg Hornstein

CFO & Executive Vice President, Corporate functions, Born 1977

Joerg Hornstein started his career with Merck KGaA, where he spent 12 years in financial roles of increasing responsibility across different businesses, including roles at the Headquarters in Germany, as well as in Indonesia, China and the USA. He has proven experience in executive management roles and as a principal financial advisor to Boards of Directors. Before joining Lundbeck in August 2022, Joerg was with AC Immune SA as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2017, where he oversaw Finance and various corporate functions. Prior to AC Immune, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Group Controlling for Unternehmensgruppe Theo Mueller.

 

Joerg is a German national. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business, Texas, US and an MBA with Distinction from London Business School, UK.

Johan Luthman

Executive Vice President, R&D, Born 1959

In 1991, Johan Luthman began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in Astra, later AstraZeneca. In 2005, Johan joined Serono as Head of Neuroscience & Immunology Research, and subsequently, in MerckSerono, as Therapy Area Head, Neurology & Immunology. In 2009, he became CEO of biotech start-up GeNeuro. In late 2009, Johan joined Merck as VP & Franchise Integrator for Neuroscience and Ophthalmology. In 2014, he came to Eisai where he was Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development. Johan joined Lundbeck as Executive Vice President, R&D in March 2019.

 

Johan is a Swedish national and is trained as a Doctor of Dental Sciences from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He also holds a PhD in Neurobiology and Histology as well as an Associate Professor title from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

 

Johan is a Member of the Board of Directors of Brain+.

Lars Bang

Executive Vice President, Product Development & Supply, Born 1962

Having completed his degree, Lars Bang began his career at Lundbeck in 1988 as a trainee in R&D. Subsequently, he has head R&D Planning, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Lundbeck España S.A, Group Sales & Marketing. In 2003 he was appointed Group Senior Vice President Supply Operations & Engineering.

 

Lars holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing from the Copenhagen Business School.

Maria Alfaiate

Executive Vice President, Commercial and Corporate Strategy, born 1975

Maria joined Lundbeck as Executive Vice President Commercial and Corporate Strategy, August 1, 2024.

 

Maria has an impressive track record in strategic commercial leadership from the life science and pharmaceutical sectors globally. She has extensive expertise in developing strategic plans and executing programs to deliver state-of-the-art solutions for patients across diverse markets. Maria joined Lundbeck from Bayer where she served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of New Products Commercialization and Portfolio Strategy. Prior to this, Maria held positions at AstraZeneca and MSD/Merck.

 

Maria holds a Master of Clinical Psychology from Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.

Michala Fischer-Hansen

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HEAD OF EUROPE & INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, BORN 1974

Michala joined Lundbeck as the Executive Vice President Head of Europe & International Markets, April 2, 2024.

 

Michala is a seasoned executive leader, who brings a wealth of international experience, particularly within the biopharmaceutical sector. She has a strong track record in improving business performance and has been part of the executive management team at Falck since 2019 following a 19-year commercial career at Novo Nordisk, including 6 years working internationally in the US (3 years) and Australia (3 years).

 

Michala holds a M.Sc. International Business from Copenhagen Business School.

Thomas Gibbs

Executive Vice President, Head of Lundbeck U.S., born 1971

Tom joined Lundbeck in February 2023 as an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of diverse corporate, general management and commercial leadership experience, including roles in Executive Management, Marketing, Sales, Commercial Operations, Customer Insights and Analytics and Finance at small, mid-size and large pharmaceutical companies. Prior to Lundbeck, Tom served as Chief Executive Officer and Global Business Leader of Vectura Inc.  Prior to his role at Vectura Inc., Tom held several Chief Commercial Officer roles, developing Commercial strategy and overseeing execution for U.S., Canadian and European markets at pharmaceutical companies with strong central nervous system (CNS) franchises, including a role as Chief Commercial Officer at Sunovion. He has also served as Head of General Medicines in the U.S. for Takeda.

 

Tom holds a BS in Economics with a dual concentration in finance and marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.

Extended Management

Tine Østergaard Hansen

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS, BORN 1975

Tine joined Lundbeck as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs in March 2024. With extensive experience in driving effective communication strategies on a global scale, she most recently served as the Vice President of Corporate Communications, Branding & Sustainability at Noble Corporation (the merger of Maersk Drilling and US-based Noble).

 

Tine’s career includes several years as a Public Relations and Public Affairs consultant, where she navigated diverse communication challenges across various industries. Since joining the A.P. Moller – Maersk conglomerate in 2014, she has held multiple roles within the organization, progressively assuming greater responsibilities, including the communication, branding and sustainability tracks in connection with the separate listing of Maersk Drilling in 2019 and the merger between Maersk Drilling and Noble Corporation in 2022. As a trusted advisor to CEOs, Tine has played a pivotal role in shaping both internal and external communications as well as corporate sustainability strategies and reporting initiatives.

 

Tine holds a MA in Philosophy and Literature from Aarhus University.

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