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Contract drug development and manufacturing organization Cambrex said June 18 that Tom Loewald will take over as chief executive officer in September.

Loewald spent 15 years at Thermo Fisher Scientific, serving as chief commercial officer, president of the Analytical Products Group and president of the Laboratory Equipment Group, among other roles. He joins East Rutherford-based Cambrex from packaging maker ProAmpac, where he was president of the flexibles division. He’s also worked at Tyco International and General Electric and is on the board of Harvard BioScience.

“Cambrex has a phenomenal reputation for providing unmatched expertise, innovation and customer service across the entire drug lifecycle, and I am thrilled to be joining the company at a time when bringing therapeutics to patients across the globe is more important than ever,” Loewald said in a statement. “I am eager to get to work, alongside the talented leadership team, to further solidify the company’s position as a leader in the CDMO market.”

Loewald will assume his new position on Sept. 7. In the interim, the company is being led by the group of Chairman Wayne Hewett, Chief Financial Officer Robert Green and General Counsel Samantha Hanley.

“Tom’s deep knowledge of life sciences and manufacturing, and strong commercial, operating and financial focus, make him the ideal leader for Cambrex as we approach this phase of accelerated growth, Hewett said. “We are confident that he will be an excellent fit for the company’s customer-centric culture and look forward to supporting him and the entire team on the exciting road ahead.”

Cambrex focuses on small molecule therapies drug substance, drug product and analytical services across the entire drug lifecycle. In August 2019, the company was acquired by private equity firm Permira in a deal valued at $2.4 billion. Cambrex itself had been an active acquirer. In November 2018, the company bought another contract drug development and manufacturing organization, Avista Pharma Solutions, for $252 million. In July 2018, Cambrex paid $425 million for Whippany-based drugmaker Halo Pharma.