Exton-based West Pharmaceutical Services is handing the reins to a new leader this summer, tapping seasoned life sciences executive Michel Lagarde as its next CEO, according to John George at the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Lagarde comes on board Aug. 31. He succeeds Eric M. Green, who is stepping down after 11 years at the helm and was named chairman in May 2022.
West’s board picked lead independent director Robert F. Friel to fill the chairman’s shoes on the same day Lagarde arrives.
The incoming CEO is no stranger to large-scale operations. Lagarde spent nearly five years as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global healthcare and laboratory products giant that posted $45 billion in revenue last year.
He joined the company in 2017 when Thermo Fisher acquired Patheon, where he had served as president and COO. Before that, he was a managing director at private equity firm JLL Partners. Additionally, Lagarde spent 12 years at health technology company Philips in a range of finance roles across international markets.
West, founded in 1923, has developed into one of Chester County’s largest public companies. It employs more than 10,000 people across 50 sites and manufacturing plants around the world and delivers more than 41 billion pharmaceutical packaging parts and devices each year.
The company reported over $3.07 billion in revenue in 2025, a 6.2 percent increase from the year before.
For more on West’s CEO succession plan and Michel Lagarde, visit the Philadelphia Business Journal.
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