EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW - How Vetter’s Expansion of its Senior Management Team Aligns With Prioritization of Strategic Growth

The European Commission released its reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation, which prioritizes several key objectives. This includes enhancing the delivery of safe medicines to all patients and security of supply. It also consists of advancing innovation-friendly environments for drug development and production as well as making medicines more environmentally sustainable. To effectively contribute to these targets while emphasizing the strategic and sustainable growth of the company, Vetter announced the expansion of its senior management team. This crucial step positions the Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) to consistently act as a dependable and forward-thinking member of the larger pharma and biotech value chain. The change adds three leaders to its executive C-suite, resulting in a total of five managing directors with a varied breadth of experience.

As of January 1, 2025, Henryk Badack, Titus Ottinger and Carsten Press became managing directors alongside Thomas Otto and Peter Soelkner.

 Drug Delivery and Development recently interviewed Vetter’s leadership to discuss the company’s vision for strategic restructuring, their insights on Contract Development and Manufacturing trends in 2025, and what this strategic change means for the sustainable growth of the company and its global expansion.

This restructure illustrates the company’s commitment to address the increasingly complex needs and expectations of its customers and their patients worldwide by creating a viable framework of leadership to guide its 7,000 employees worldwide in their day-to-day activities and future planning.

Q: Tell me about your specific responsibilities in your role as managing director.

Henryk Badack: In my role, I am responsible for the development service and quality division. In my charge of managing quality and development, I am focused on compliance with regulatory standards in our quality departments as well as management for clinical manufacturing initiatives. Our comprehensive fill and finish services offer customers analytical studies, support in achieving regulatory approvals and supply for clinical trials. In addition, we offer personalized clinical production with intent to deliver drug products to market at an accelerated rate and optimized scale-up services based on decades of experience.

Titus Ottinger: I am now leading the charge of the company’s finance and controlling departments. My 20 years of experience at Vetter position me to responsibly manage its finances and external accounting. I plan to place a heavy prioritization on planning and managing our strategic company growth and on risk management as we invest approximately 1.5 billion Euros in our strategic expansion until 2029 to make sure our investments most effectively support our customers and advance our success as a company.

Carsten Press: I now have the responsibility for leading human resources and supply chain management across our globally operating organization. My role consists of supporting employees and their professional development and getting new talented people on board. In addition, I plan to oversee the supply chain with a focus on the security of supply, resilience, efficiency and protecting the safety of patient care with medicines for patients and customers. While I was deeply invested in our supply chain management in my previous role, the HR facet of my position is an exciting new endeavor for me.

Thomas Otto: I am continuing to lead our production and engineering departments as well as the technical service and internal project management. I joined Vetter 35 years ago, and I have served in my current role for the past 22 years. With the expansion of our senior management, my role has become more targeted to allow me to better focus on our core business of manufacturing customer drug products to ultimately get them to the patients who rely on them in a timely and efficient manner.

Peter Soelkner: I have been managing director at Vetter since 2008, and I will continue to be responsible for global sales and corporate development. I am focused on expanding our global market reach by optimizing our corporate strategy and building meaningful, long-term relationships. Through this, I aim to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with customers. My ultimate goal is to continue to make Vetter a trusted global leader and reliable partner in the industry.

Q: What excites you the most about taking on this new leadership position? What are your primary goals in your new role as managing director, and how do you plan to achieve them?

Henryk Badack: As I navigate my new responsibilities, I am most excited to contribute to enhancing quality and development practices and to continue writing the Vetter success story together with my colleagues. It has been a pleasure getting to know my colleagues in these particular departments, who can now help me perform better in this new role. My responsibilities are now shifting, and I am looking at the big picture to focus on where the company is now and where it is heading.

Titus Ottinger: I am looking forward to continuing my management of finance and controlling. With my years of experience in strategic planning and controlling of financial managements as well as risk assessment, I hope to contribute to the company’s intent to further improve as a reliable partner and conduct our business processes in a sustainable manner.

Carsten Press: I’ve been in supply chain management for years, and I am really looking forward to extending my skills to human resources in my new position. With my extensive management experience, I hope to foster professional development and an optimal work environment for my colleagues. Vetter prides itself on operating as a reliable employer for its 7,000 employees and I am looking forward to finding the right balance to provide my teams with a framework that equips them to do their job in the best way possible.

Thomas Otto: My expertise lies in a variety of departments, including pharmaceutical production, technology, technical service and internal project management. The expansion of the senior management team allows me to bring heightened focus to my responsibilities. My primary goal is tied to implementing more automation and additional advanced technologies in our cleanrooms to achieve the highest possible level of quality and efficiency in every batch we manufacture. I look forward to helping my peers adapt to their new responsibilities and offering them the tools and counsel to succeed.

Peter Soelkner: I am excited to see the company benefit from the leadership of this senior management team. I am looking forward to becoming more focused on global sales and corporate development, particularly as the company navigates several capacity expansion opportunities in the coming years. My hope is that our management team can foster synergy across our various focus areas and work together to seamlessly continue bringing Vetter toward a future of sustainable growth.

Q: How do you envision contributing to Vetter’s sustainable growth and the needs of your global customers through this restructuring?

Henryk Badack: My dedication to enhance quality and development services will support Vetter’s commitment to producing high quality injectable medicines. I will focus on improving efficiency in our quality assurance processes to further advance the company’s reputation as a premier quality CDMO in our sector. As quality regulations evolve and customer expectations increase, so will our business practices to prioritize compliance and protect the effectiveness and safety of our customers’ drug products.

Titus Ottinger: With the new structure, I want to encourage mutual respect and understanding among the five managing directors. Transparency and clarity on our end can lead to increased reliability and result in finding good solutions, which can encourage trust among employees and foster a healthy work environment. Each of us brings our own individual expertise and years of experience in Vetter leadership, allowing the opportunity for productive collaboration that will drive the company’s growth globally.

Carsten Press: I have always believed in trusting our teams and letting them do their work autonomously. Often, I feel more like a coach for my employees. It’s important to provide a good framework and direction for staff and trust them to do their job. I strive to embolden our employees to embrace authenticity and reliability. It’s important to me that my colleagues and I are very open and direct with each other to establish an equal footing, and I find that is often the best way to discover the most creative solutions. It is critical that we honor our responsibilities towards our customers and their patients but also towards our employees to create a harmonious work environment that promotes innovation.

Q: What are the trends and technological developments that you expect to define the CDMO landscape in 2025 and beyond and how is Vetter adjusting?

Thomas Otto: CDMOs, including Vetter, are focusing on sustainability and altering operations to act in line with global climate goals. In addition to our own sustainable and ethical practices, our company is part of the UN Global Compact and recognizes its ten principles on human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anticorruption to pursue sustainability on a global scale. Vetter is continuing to invest in new capacities and capabilities to incorporate sustainable practices for customers and track progress.

Carsten Press: CDMOs play critical roles in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Vetter constantly considers the state of the industry, including the impact of evolving industry demands, technological advancements, and regulatory requirements on the supply chain. The company shifts its strategy in response to current trends to adapt to the needs of both small and large biopharma companies and invests in automation and advanced digital tracking systems to enhance supply chain security and traceability.

Peter Soelkner: To anticipate and proactively prepare for the future needs of our customers, Vetter is investing in more filling lines and expanding capacity today. In addition to expanding our Ravensburg and Des Plaines facilities, the company also has plans for a new commercial plant. This capacity expansion allows Vetter to become more efficient and flexible so it can meet increasingly complex customer needs.

Q: How does an expansion of the management structure support investment and expansion of the company, particularly, as CDMOs are increasingly viewed as collaborative rather than transactional partners to drug developers?

Thomas Otto: With the expansion of senior management, investment in the future is the priority. As a strategic partner, CDMOs are expected to be leaders in ethical and sustainable business practices to maintain reliability as a partner for our customers. Sustainability has been an anchor in our corporate strategy for decades. Our accountability programs support our strategies to reduce waste and conserve resources, which then enables our customers to achieve their own sustainability goals. Our role in the larger value chain makes it critical that we embody an environmentally sound operation that aligns with those of our customers. With more leadership, we are able to more closely prioritize driving meaningful results that benefit our customers.

Peter Soelkner: The growth of Vetter globally to foster these evolving customer relationships is more important than ever. Mutual trust is very important to me, in all dimensions. Expanding the management structure brings together vast experience from individualized areas of expertise to create an all-encompassing outlook to improve customer partnerships. It further allows us to dedicate even more time to developing long-term partnerships with our clients and provide a heightened level of leadership presence in customer engagements.