MONTVALE, N.J., March 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: BRL - News) 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 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.
