Hospira names operations executive

PRNewswire

Lake Forest-based Hospira Inc. has named Matthew R. (Matt) Stober senior vice president, Operations.

In addition to expanding his current U.S. responsibilities to assume leadership for all of Hospira’s pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, Stober will have responsibility for the operations functions, including manufacturing science and technology, engineering, competitive strategy, health and safety, supply chain and procurement.

Stober succeeds John B. Elliot, who has led the operations organization since April 2012 and will provide continuity of support until his retirement at the end of the year. Both Elliot and Stober will serve as members of the company’s senior leadership team, led by F. Michael Ball, chief executive officer.

“Matt brings the perfect blend of vision and experience to our operations organization, backed by a proven track record of success at Hospira,” said Mr. Ball. “In his expanded role, we’re confident Matt will continue to successfully advance our dual commitment to remediate and modernize our processes and operations while delivering patient-critical products, and ultimately establish our manufacturing operations as a strategic, competitive advantage. We thank John for his strong counsel and continued support during the transition and look forward to Matt’s many additional contributions.”

Stober, 45, joined Hospira in 2011 as its corporate vice president, U.S. Pharma Operations, where he has held primary responsibility for Hospira’s Rocky Mount, N.C.; McPherson, Kan.; Austin, Texas; and Clayton, N.C., facilities, along with global engineering and program management. In 2012, he supported Hospira’s efforts to produce and deliver more than half a billion units that were on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug shortage list to help alleviate the industrywide shortage for critical generic injectable drugs.

He joined Hospira from Johnson & Johnson, where he served as the vice president and global platform leader for solids, parenterals and vaccines.

Stober has extensive experience managing transformational change in business-critical settings, as well as leading global and multi-company development projects, new product launches and large-scale organizational transformations. He has been in the pharmaceutical industry for nearly 25 years, having held significant leadership roles at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

Born in Connecticut, Stober earned his bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Villanova University.