A pharmaceutical industry veteran has been tapped to lead Wilmington-based AAIPharma Services Corp., the company announced Tuesday.

Stephan Kutzer will assume the position of CEO of AAIPharma and Wisconsin-based Cambridge Major Laboratories Inc., effective Aug. 1, according to the company’s news release.

Kutzer comes to the merged companies from Lonza, Inc. – part of the Lonza Group, a Swiss chemicals and biotechnology company - where he has served in a variety of roles since 1996, the release stated. Most recently, Kutzer served as chief operating officer of Lonza Inc. as well as chief operating officer and president of several divisions. Prior to that, he had upper management responsibilities at Lonza’s facilities in Bayport, Texas and, earlier, in Lonza Guangzhou Ltd. in China, according to the release.

Kutzer holds a master’s degree in chemical and process engineering and a Ph.D. in engineering sciences (chemical engineering) from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, the release stated.

“Stephan brings valuable leadership experience with over 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry. His diverse background in operations, technical services, API [active pharmaceutical ingredient] development and manufacturing positions him well to take our company to the next level,” Susan Nestegard, acting CEO, said in the release. “He will continue our focus on best in class safety, quality and exceeding customer expectations to achieve our vision of being the Contract Manufacturing and Development Organization (CDMO) of first choice in the pharmaceutical sector.”

Nestegard, a member of the board of directors of American Capital Ltd., parent of AAIPharma and Cambridge Major Labs, has held the acting CEO role since early April, when previous CEO Patrick Walsh stepped down.

Walsh, appointed AAIPharma CEO in September 2010, led significant growth for the company, which included a major acquisition, development of a new 40,000-square-foot technology center at the company’s headquarters near Wilmington International Airport and the merger, in October, with Cambridge Major Laboratories.

Currently, AAIPharma and Cambridge Major Laboratories together provide comprehensive pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services to clients all over the world. The merged company employs almost 800 employees who operate out of seven sites in the U.S. and Europe, according to the release.