- New EVP Sales and Marketing to Oversee All Akorn Commercial Operations -
- Newly Appointed Controller Strengthens Akorn's Finance Team -
- New EVP Pharmaceutical Operations to Oversee Supply Chain and Plant Operations -
- New EVP Global Quality Compliance to Oversee Akorn's Commitment to Regulatory Compliance -
LAKE FOREST, Ill., April 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akorn, Inc. (Nasdaq:AKRX), a leading specialty generic pharmaceutical company, announced the following recent executive appointments for roles on the Akorn management team:
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Jonathan Kafer, former Vice President, Account Management at Allergan, Inc., was appointed Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. In this newly-created role, Mr. Kafer will oversee all commercial functions for all of Akorn's business units. Mr. Kafer will also play an integral role in strategic market and product portfolio considerations.
At Allergan, Mr. Kafer was responsible for all trade activity within Allergan's wholesale, retail specialty pharmacy, e-Solutions and managed market channels for all of Allergan's business units. Prior to Allergan, Mr. Kafer was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Health Systems at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Kafer has also served in various senior management roles at aaiPharma, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, HealthNexis and Novartis. Mr. Kafer holds a B.A. in Organizational Communications from The Ohio State University.
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Randall Pollard was appointed Vice President and Corporate Controller. In this role, Mr. Pollard will oversee all accounting and financial reporting functions within Akorn.
Mr. Pollard joins Akorn from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently served as the head of accounting and reporting for Novartis' generic division, Sandoz. During his tenure at Novartis, Mr. Pollard also served as Controller of the Sandoz division. Prior to Novartis/Sandoz, he has served in various financial leadership roles at Wyeth and Mayne Pharma. Mr. Pollard began his career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen. Mr. Pollard is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
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Steve Lichter was appointed Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations. In this newly created role, Mr. Lichter will oversee Akorn's global supply chain and plant operations.
Mr. Lichter joins Akorn from Abbott Laboratories where he served in various leadership roles over 32 years most recently as Corporate Vice President, Operations, for Abbott's Established Pharmaceutical Division in Switzerland. In this role, Mr. Lichter was responsible for the division's global supply chain operations including active and finished drug product manufacturing, procurement, manufacturing, engineering, and commercial operations. Mr. Lichter holds a B.S. in Business Management and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
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Jaspreet Gill, former Vice President, Corporate Quality at Baxter, was appointed Executive Vice President, Global Quality Compliance. In her newly created role at Akorn, Ms. Gill will oversee global regulatory compliance for all Akorn manufacturing sites as well as members of Akorn's supply chain.
Prior to Baxter, Ms. Gill held quality leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson and began her career at Bio-Rad Laboratories. Ms. Gill holds a B.S. from Panjab University, a Certificate in Total Quality Management from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
"It is an honor to welcome Jon, Randy, Steve and Jaspreet to the Akorn team," stated Raj Rai, Chief Executive Officer of Akorn. "These four experienced and well-qualified executives bring skills and expertise that will further strengthen our leadership team and prepare Akorn for future growth opportunities."
About Akorn
Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, Akorn, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets multisource and branded pharmaceuticals alongside prescription animal health products and over-the-counter consumer health products. Every day, hundreds of thousands of patients in the United States rely on Akorn products to treat different ailments ranging from the common cold to glaucoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and severe acne. Further, hospitals across the United States rely on Akorn's sterile injectable portfolio to treat acute conditions ranging from bacterial infections to hypertension and heart failure.
Traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol AKRX, Akorn markets its portfolio of close to 200 different products to retail pharmacies, ophthalmologists, optometrists, physicians, veterinarians, hospitals, clinics, wholesalers, distributors, group purchasing organizations, and government agencies. Akorn has manufacturing facilities located in Decatur, Illinois; Somerset, New Jersey; Amityville, New York; Hettlingen, Switzerland and Paonta Sahib, India. Additional information is available on the company's website at www.akorn.com.