Christine Mundkur, Fred Wilkinson, Mike Bogda, Timothy Sawyer Promoted;
Bill McKee's Role Expanded
MONTVALE, N.J., March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL) today announced the restructuring of its
senior management team to better align the Company's global generic and
proprietary businesses, optimize operations, and increase efficiencies
across the global organization. Barr's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Bruce L. Downey, announced the following promotions: Christine
Mundkur, Esq. has been named Chief Executive Officer of Barr Laboratories,
Inc., the Company's generic pharmaceutical business; Fred Wilkinson has
been named Chief Executive Officer of Duramed Pharmaceuticals, the
Company's proprietary products business; Mike Bogda has been named
President and Chief Operating Officer, Barr Laboratories, Inc., reporting
to Mundkur; and, Timothy Sawyer has been named Executive Vice President,
Global Generic Sales and Marketing, Barr Laboratories, Inc. reporting to
Mundkur. In addition, Bill McKee, Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, Barr Pharmaceuticals, will assume expanded
responsibilities.
Mundkur and Wilkinson will report directly to Downey, who will retain
the position of Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., but will no
longer have the day-to-day management responsibilities that he assumed in
August 2007.
"An optimally structured senior management team is key to reaching the
full potential of our combined organization," said Downey. "These
promotions and expanded responsibilities recognize the distinct
contribution of five of our key executives -- Christine, Fred, Mike, Bill
and Tim -- and will enable me to devote more time to my strategic
responsibilities as CEO and Chairman. I am pleased that we have moved from
the transitional period resulting from the integration of Barr and PLIVA,
which we began in 2006, to more efficiently operating a global organization
focused on generating increased profitability and optimizing the
capabilities of the combined company."
"The senior management team at Barr has long been recognized internally
and externally as among the most talented in the industry, and their
individual and collective contributions are critical to our success in the
specialty pharmaceuticals sector. Today, I am pleased to elevate these key
executives to additional significant areas of responsibility and I am
confident that they possess the right skills and business acumen to deliver
on our objectives of enhancing profitability and operational efficiency for
our shareholders and our employees."
Mundkur Named Chief Executive Officer of Barr Laboratories, Inc.
In her new position, Christine Mundkur will have responsibility for
Barr's global generics business, including strategic planning, research and
development, regulatory affairs, operations, quality, and sales and
marketing. Under her leadership, Barr Laboratories will continue to provide
support to the proprietary business in the areas of formulation, regulatory
affairs and product supply. She joined Barr in 1993 as an associate counsel
and was named regulatory counsel and director of regulatory affairs in
1997. In 1998, Mundkur was promoted to Vice President, Quality and
Regulatory Counsel. In 2001, she was promoted to Senior Vice President of
Quality and Regulatory Counsel. Mundkur most recently served as Executive
Vice President Global Quality, Safety and Regulatory Affairs, and had
responsibility for leading the Company's global quality, safety, regulatory
affairs and PK/BE operations. During 2007, Christine lived and worked in
the Company's European headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia.
Wilkinson Named Chief Executive Officer, Duramed Pharmaceuticals
Fred Wilkinson has been named to the newly created position of Chief
Executive Officer of Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Barr's proprietary products
business, with responsibility for all functions related to product
selection, clinical development, and sales and marketing. He will also
continue directing Barr's growing global biologics development program. In
addition, Wilkinson will assume responsibility for the strategic direction
and coordination of the Company's global business development activities
for our generic, proprietary and biologics activities.
Wilkinson joined the Company in 2006, bringing more than 25 years of
experience to Duramed. Prior to joining Duramed Pharmaceuticals, he served
as Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Board of
Directors of Columbia Laboratories from 2001. From 1996 to 2001, Wilkinson
served as Watson Pharmaceuticals' Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice
President. Prior to joining Watson, he spent sixteen years at Sandoz
Pharmaceutical Corporation in numerous senior managerial positions of
increasing responsibility.
Bogda Named President and Chief Operating Officer, Barr Laboratories,
Inc.
Mike Bogda has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of Barr
Laboratories, Inc. In his new position, Bogda will continue to oversee all
aspects of GPS and his responsibilities will be expanded to include Quality
and Pharma Chemicals. In addition to his operational oversight
responsibilities, Bogda will also have increased responsibility in the
Company's budgeting, financial forecasting and capital management
activities. Bogda will report directly to Mundkur.
Bogda joined Barr in 2000 as Vice President of Validation and Technical
Services and has held positions of increasing responsibility. He was
promoted to Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Engineering in 2001,
and most recently served as Executive Vice President, Global Product Supply
("GPS"). Bogda joined Barr from Copley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where his
responsibilities included managing the consolidation and integration of
Copley's manufacturing plants after the company's acquisition by Teva
Pharmaceuticals USA. He also served on the Executive Management Committee
at Copley Pharmaceuticals.
McKee Role as Chief Financial Officer of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Expanded
Bill McKee joined Barr in 1995 and has held positions of increasing
responsibility within the finance department. McKee currently serves as
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Barr
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In his newly expanded role, he will assume additional
responsibilities related to the development and implementation of global
tax planning strategies and integrated processes to enhance cost
efficiencies throughout the Company's operations.
Sawyer Named Executive Vice President, Global Generic Sales and
Marketing
In his new role as Executive Vice President, Global Generic Sales and
Marketing, Timothy Sawyer will have responsibility for the Company's
generic commercial operations for the U.S., Europe and Rest of World.
Sawyer joined Barr in 1993 as Manager, Sales Administration and has held
positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing and strategic
business development. He was named a Vice President in 2001, and was
promoted to Senior Vice President of European Commercial Development in
2006, with responsibility for the sales and marketing in the European and
Rest of World markets following the acquisition of PLIVA. Sawyer, who
relocated to Zagreb, Croatia and works in the Company's European
headquarters, will report directly to Mundkur.
In addition to Mundkur, Wilkinson and McKee, Zeljko Covic, President
and COO of PLIVA d.d. and President of the PLIVA Management Board will also
report to Downey, as will Frederick J. Killion, Executive Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary; Jane Greenman, Executive Vice President,
Global Human Resources; Carol Cox, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate
Communications and Investor Relations; and Jake Hansen, Senior Vice
President, Global Government Affairs.
About Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical company
that operates in more than 30 countries worldwide and is engaged in the
development, manufacture and marketing of generic and proprietary
pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
A holding company, Barr operates through its principal subsidiaries: Barr
Laboratories, Inc., Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and PLIVA d.d. and its
subsidiaries. The Barr Group of companies markets more than 120 generic and
27 proprietary products in the U.S. and approximately 1,025 products
globally outside of the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.barrlabs.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements
made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be
identified by their use of words such as "expects," "plans," "projects,"
"will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates"
and other words of similar meaning. Because such statements inherently
involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified,
actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements depending upon a number of factors
affecting the Company's business. These factors include, among others: the
difficulty in predicting the timing and outcome of legal proceedings,
including patent-related matters such as patent challenge settlements and
patent infringement cases; the outcome of litigation arising from
challenging the validity or non- infringement of patents covering our
products; the difficulty of predicting the timing of FDA approvals; court
and FDA decisions on exclusivity periods; the ability of competitors to
extend exclusivity periods for their products; our ability to complete
product development activities in the timeframes and for the costs we
expect; market and customer acceptance and demand for our pharmaceutical
products; our dependence on revenues from significant customers;
reimbursement policies of third party payors; our dependence on revenues
from significant products; the use of estimates in the preparation of our
financial statements; the impact of competitive products and pricing on
products, including the launch of authorized generics; the ability to
launch new products in the timeframes we expect; the availability of raw
materials; the availability of any product we purchase and sell as a
distributor; the regulatory environment in the markets where we operate;
our exposure to product liability and other lawsuits and contingencies; the
increasing cost of insurance and the availability of product liability
insurance coverage; our timely and successful completion of strategic
initiatives, including integrating companies (such as PLIVA d.d.) and
products we acquire and implementing our new SAP enterprise resource
planning system; fluctuations in operating results, including the effects
on such results from spending for research and development, sales and
marketing activities and patent challenge activities; the inherent
uncertainty associated with financial projections; our expansion into
international markets through our PLIVA acquisition, and the resulting
currency, governmental, regulatory and other risks involved with
international operations; our ability to service our significantly
increased debt obligations as a result of the PLIVA acquisition; changes in
generally accepted accounting principles; and other risks detailed in our
SEC filings, including in our Transition Report on Form 10-K/T for the six
months ended December 31, 2006.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak
only as of the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no
obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except to the extent required under applicable law.
SOURCE Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.barrlabs.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/089750.html/
CONTACT:
Carol A. Cox, +1-201-930-3720,
ccox@barrlabs.com
|
