Hospira names new leaders for quality, plant operations
Lake Forest-based Hospira Inc. announced a number of new appointments to its quality and plant operations, including the appointment of Zena G. Kaufman as senior vice president, quality, effective Feb. 27.
In this role, Kaufman will have overall responsibility for Hospira's global quality systems and serve as a member of the company's senior leadership team, reporting directly to F. Michael Ball, chief executive officer.
“Zena is a recognized global expert in pharmaceutical quality systems, and her proven experience will help establish quality as a strategic, competitive advantage across our global operations,” Ball said. “Hospira remains fully dedicated to restoring our long-established reputation for the highest-quality products and best possible service for our customers, and I'm confident we now have the right team in place to deliver against these imperatives.”
Kaufman brings 24 years of experience to Hospira, most recently served as divisional vice president, Global Quality Systems, Global Pharmaceutical Operations, for Abbott Laboratories, where her tenure included diverse roles across the company's corporate and divisional quality functions. Prior to Abbott, she held various roles of progressive responsibility in the quality organizations at Pfizer Inc., Pharmacia Corporation and G.D. Searle & Company.
She continues to hold active leadership roles in many industry organizations, including serving on the board of the Parenteral Drug Association as well as having represented Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on the International Conference of Harmonization Guideline: Pharmaceutical Quality Systems.
In addition to Ms. Kaufman, Hospira has welcomed the following new operations and quality leaders, who average more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry:
Ÿ Matt Stober was named corporate vice president, U.S. Pharma Operations. Stober, who joined Hospira late last year, has primary responsibility for Hospira's Rocky Mount, N.C., facility as well as Hospira plants in McPherson, Kan.; Austin, Texas; and Clayton, N.C. He joins Hospira from Johnson & Johnson, where he served as the vice president and global platform leader for Solids, Parenterals & Vaccines. He has been in the pharmaceutical industry for 22 years, having held significant leadership roles at Novartis and Merck.
Ÿ Shane Ernst was named vice president, quality, Rocky Mount. Ernst is accountable for all site quality at the Rocky Mount plant as well as site remediation operations. He started at Hospira on Jan. 30, and has 16 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as vice president of Quality Operations and Regulatory Affairs at DSM Pharmaceutical Products. Ernst has experience working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having directly managed FDA inspections successfully, and with multiple global regulatory agencies.
Ÿ Marty Nealeywas named vice president, Operations, and plant manager, Rocky Mount. Nealey is accountable for leading manufacturing and remediation efforts at the Rocky Mount plant. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 22 years, covering tenures with Merck and AstraZeneca, and brings extensive experience in sterile pharmaceutical manufacturing, having worked closely with the FDA to maintain top quality standards. Most recently, as executive director and plant manager for Purdue Pharmaceuticals L.P. with responsibility for manufacturing sites in North Carolina and New Jersey,
Ÿ Andrew Knudten was named vice president, operations, and plant manager, McPherson. As the site leader for the McPherson, Kan., plant, Knudten will be responsible for the facility's operations, effective March 5. He joins Hospira from Novartis where he served as the global head of contract manufacturing and operations strategy. In this role, Knudten was responsible for the technical operations manufacturing strategy of a global multisite vaccines division as well as its contract manufacturing business. Knudten, who brings more than 20 years of experience, has also held roles of increasing responsibility with Amgen, Inc. and CoDa Therapeutics, Inc.
Ÿ Thomas Templeman, Ph.D. was named vice president, Pharma Operations Excellence. Templeman recently joined Hospira in the newly created position, which was created to ensure that process change is systemic across the company's U.S. plants. Dr. Templeman, with 22 years of pharmaceutical experience, most recently worked as senior vice president, Integrated Supply Chain, at Liquidia Technologies, where he focused on developing and refining proposed products concurrently with the manufacturing process, along with establishing Good Manufacturing Practice manufacturing and quality systems to support clinical trials. He previously held leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked for 13 years and assisted in two remediation efforts.