Henny Zijlstra joined Ardena as Chief Commercial Officer in May 2026. She is an accomplished commercial leader in the pharmaceutical and CDMO industry, with a career built on driving growth through strategic business development, brand positioning, and customer engagement.

She has held senior commercial roles across the sector, including at Lonza and most recently at Adragos. At Ardena, Henny leads the commercial organization across business development and marketing, with a focus on strengthening Ardena’s market presence and supporting customers in complex molecules, nanotechnology, drug conjugates, and bioanalysis.

Henny believes that strong commercial performance is built on trust, authenticity, and meaningful relationships. She leads with a clear focus on results and on helping customers connect with the specialist expertise they need to advance complex therapies.

Ben Ash joined Ardena in 2026 as Chief Financial Officer. He brings more than 20 years of finance leadership experience, predominantly within the pharmaceutical sector, with a strong track record across publicly listed companies in the UK and US as well as privately held organizations.

Most recently, Ben served as Chief Financial Officer at Essential Pharma, a global pharmaceutical company focused on medicines for small, underserved and rare disease patient populations. Prior to this, he held senior finance roles at PTC Therapeutics and Shire.

Ben is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Paul Edwards joined Ardena in 2026 as Chief People Officer, bringing over 30 years of international Human Resources leadership across complex, science-driven and global organisations. 

Paul has extensive experience in shaping people strategy to support organisational growth and transformation, most recently serving in senior HR leadership roles at Catalent Pharma Solutions. In his roles there, he partnered closely with executive and business leaders to strengthen leadership capability, build high-performance cultures and align talent strategy with commercial and operational priorities. 

 At Ardena, Paul leads the global people agenda with a focus on enhancing leadership capability, talent development, and organisational effectiveness to support the company’s continued expansion and strategic objectives. 

 Paul holds a joint honours degree in Law and Politics from Durham University in the United Kingdom and is based in New Jersey, USA. 

Peter Rose joined Ardena in 2025 as Chief Information Officer. He brings over 25 years of Information Technology leadership experience spanning multiple industries, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Most recently, he was the global head of IT infrastructure and security at Diversey, a global chemical manufacturer, driving technology-enabled transformation, and ​leading a successful IT migration of the company into the Solenis Group. Before that, he spent a decade at Catalent, where he oversaw all global IT systems supporting quality, analytical, and manufacturing operations.  Peter began his career in the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engineer, building a strong technical foundation that continues to shape his practical and results-driven approach to leadership.

Dipesh Patel joined Ardena in 2025 as Chief Quality Officer. He brings over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having held senior leadership roles across CDMOs, virtual biotech companies, and large-scale manufacturing organizations. With an academic background in Chemistry, Biology, and Toxicology, he has built a strong track record in both Quality and Operations, overseeing a broad range of dosage forms and regulatory frameworks. His global experience provides deep insight into diverse regulatory requirements and the practical implementation of robust quality systems across multiple regions. Most recently, Dipesh served as Senior Vice President, Quality, at Accord Healthcare, and prior to that held leadership roles at Catalent as Vice President Quality and Site General Manager. He is also a certified EU Qualified Person (QP).