HAFNARFJORDUR, ICELAND--(Marketwire - August 12, 2008) - -
-- Actavis EVP Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir appointed deputy CEO
-- New Actavis chief complements his team with internal promotions -
Reykjavik, Iceland, 12 August 2008 -- Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, today announces that it has appointed Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir, Deputy CEO. At the same time, Valur Ragnarsson has been appointed Executive Vice President of Third-party sales; and Doug Boothe, CEO of Actavis United States.
Valur will join the Group’s Executive board with immediate effect, while Gudbjorg Edda and Doug already are executive board members.
Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir joined Actavis following the Company’s merger with Delta, where she had been Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Exports and Development since 1999. She was appointed Actavis’ Chief Executive of Third-party sales in 2002. Gudbjorg Edda has an MSc degree in Pharmacy and has worked in the pharmaceuticals industry since 1976.
Valur Ragnarsson joined Medis, Actavis’ Third-party sales division, in 2001 and was appointed Managing Director in October 2003. Earlier in his career he held the posts of Marketing Manager of Lundbeck in Iceland and later as Marketing Manager of Aventis. Valur is a pharmacist by education and has worked within the pharmaceutical industry since 1988.
Doug Boothe joined Actavis through the acquisition of Alpharma in 2005. During the past four years he has held a variety of management positions within the company, the most recent of which was Executive Vice President U.S. Commercial and Administration. Prior to joining Actavis, Doug worked for General Electric, Mars & Co Consulting, Xerox Corporation, and Pharmacia. Doug holds a B.S. in Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Wharton School of Business.
Actavis announced changes at the helm last week, when Robert Wessman stepped down. Commenting on the senior appointments today, succeeding CEO Sigurdur Oli Olafsson said: “We have a world-class management team with global expertise. We fully intend to continue the remarkable Actavis growth story but our main focus this year will remain on internal growth.”
New Actavis deputy CEO Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir, said:
“The best business leaders build teams that remain flexible, teams that continue to perform even after their departure. Through the changes in ownership last year, it was business as usual at Actavis. Following the departure of Robert Wessman, it will continue to be business as usual at Actavis. We have an incredibly committed team that will continue to provide quick to market, low cost, high quality pharmaceuticals around the global marketplace.”
Enquiries Actavis Group Hjördís Árnadóttir Director - External Communications Tel: (+354) 535 2300 / 840 7476 E-mail: harnadottir@actavis.com About Actavis Group
Actavis is one of the world’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries, with 11,000 employees. For more information on Actavis Group please visit www.actavis.com.
Any statements contained in this press release that refer to Actavis’ estimated or anticipated future results or future activities are forward-looking statements which reflect the Company’s current analysis of existing trends, information and plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially depending on factors such as the availability of resources, the timing and effect of regulatory actions, the success of new products, the strength of competition, the success of research and development issues, unexpected contract breaches or terminations, exposure to product liability and other lawsuits, the effect of currency fluctuations and other factors.
