About Us

Eric Cornut joined Menarini Group in June 2017 as Member of the Board of Directors. He served as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors from June 2018 to September 2019. He is currently non-executive Chairman of the Group.

Eric spent over 20 years in Novartis, covering roles of increasing seniority: Head of Integration, Managing Director France, Head of Pharma Europe, Chief Commercial Officer and finally as Chief Ethics, Compliance & Policy Officer.

He also served briefly as Interim General Manager of EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Association).

Eric has a Doctorate in Law from the University of Basel and a Master in Law from the University of California, Berkeley.

Elcin Barker Ergun worked in Global, Regional and Local Leadership roles in Pharma Industry for more than 20 years in Innovation, Commercial and Finance Leadership.

She joined Menarini Group in September 2019 as Group CEO and Member of the Board of Directors after an expansive International career in the US, Europe and Emerging Markets.

Elcin entered Pharma Industry with Glaxo Smithkline as subsidiary CFO. She then joined Serono as General Manager, and took roles of increasing seniority over the years in Merck Serono as Senior Vice President, Regional Head of MEA, Russia, CIS and as Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer when she was based in the group’s headquarters in Germany. In her last role at Merck, she was based in Boston for 3 years as Executive Vice President, Head of New Businesses leading the external innovation led growth of new businesses.

In her earlier career, Elcin worked in the UK for Honeywell and in the Netherlands for ITT Corporation in IT Management where she started as a software engineer.

Elcin has a BSc degree in Computer Engineering from METU and an MBA from INSEAD.

Lucia Aleotti graduated with honors in Economics with a thesis on Drug Patent Law.

In June 2001, Lucia Aleotti joined the Board of Directors of A. Menarini srl, parent company of the Menarini Group, together with her brother Alberto Giovanni and in February 2013 she was appointed President serving until June 2018, when Dr. Eric Cornut was nominated.

In 2007 the Regional Council of Tuscany awarded Lucia Aleotti the Silver Banner (Gonfalone d’Argento) in recognition of talented young entrepreneurs.

Currently she is a member of Farmindustria’s Committee of the Presidency and of its Board. She also serves on Confindustria’s Executive Council and General Council.
Lucia Aleotti held other positions in pharmaceutical industry international associations:

- In EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) she was Member of the Board, Heads of Europe, Member of EU Enlargement Team and Member of the Economic and Social Policy Committee;
- In IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations) she was a Council Member;
- She was a member of the World Biopharmaceutical CEO Roundtable (BCR).

Alberto Giovanni Aleotti has a degree in Business Administration at the University of Florence and his thesis was on the pharmaceutical industry.

In 1997 he joined the Menarini Group dedicating himself to the finance and business development areas and in 2001 was appointed to the Board of Directors where, from February 2013 to June 2018, he has served also as Vice-Chairman.

Currently, since 2011, Alberto Giovanni is a member of the Executive Board of Assonime (Association of Italian Corporations). He was member of the Executive Committee of Assobiotec (Italian Association for Biotechnology Development) since 2005 to 2007.

From 2012 to 2015 he served as member of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Committee of one of the leading and oldest banks in Italy.

Carlo Colombini, with a degree in Industrial Chemistry, joined Menarini in 1973. During his career he has always dealt with all the different aspects connected with manufacturing, first on a local base and then at Group level.

In 1995 he was appointed Group Manufacturing Director and was in charge of all the manufacturing sites of Menarini Group. In the year 2000, he covered the position of General Manager of Services, managing all manufacturing, purchasing and HR departments at Corporate level. In the same period he covered the role of General Manager of A. Menarini Manufacturing Logistics & Services Srl.

He has been a member of the Boards of several companies within Menarini Group, such as Menarini Manufacturing Logistics & Services Srl and Lusochimica SpA.

In recent years he has been more and more involved in the Group manufacturing strategies at international level and in November 2018 he was appointed Member of the Board of Directors of the Menarini Group.

Jürg Witmer holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Zurich, and a degree in International Studies from the University of Geneva.

He joined Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel in 1978 and subsequently held a number of positions including Legal Counsel, Assistant to the CEO, General Manager and China Project Manager of Roche Far East, Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Roche headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and General Manager of Roche Austria.

From 1999 to 2005, Witmer was Chief Executive Officer and from 2005 to 2017 Chairman of the Givaudan Group in Vernier/Geneva. From 2008 to 2012, he also covered the position of Chairman of Clariant AG, Basel.

He has been a Member of the Board of Menarini Group, Florence, Italy, since 2013, Lead Director at Syngenta AG, Basel since 2018, and is also Chairman of Montcaud Holding SA, Geneva, Switzerland.