NORTH NORWICH – Norwich Pharmaceuticals’ parent company has a new executive chairman, one who plans to grow the group into a top player in the international generic pharmaceutical industry.
It was announced yesterday that Icelandic Entrepreneur Robert Wessman has taken a 30 percent stake in The Alvogen Group as well as the helm of the organization, which is comprised of Norwich Pharmaceuticals and Alvogen, a New Jersey-based generics company.
According to Chris Calhoun, president of Norwich Pharmaceuticals, Wessman is a “pre-eminent leader in generic pharmaceuticals.”
“To get hitched to his wagon so to speak is tremendously positive,” said Calhoun, who likened Wessman to the Bill Gates of the generic pharmaceuticals industry.
Wessman, the former CEO of Activis, was the subject of a case study published by the Harvard Business School last year called “Robert Wessman and the Actavis Winning Formula,” which detailed how he transformed the failing Icelandic generic drug company with 90 employees into a global generic pharmaceutical giant employing 11,000 people in just seven years.
“He sets challenging goals and delivers on them,” said Calhoun, who said that being associated with someone of Wessman’s reputation would be a boon for the company when it comes to retaining existing customers and attracting new ones.
According to Calhoun, Norwich Pharmaceuticals’ 375,000 square foot North Norwich facility will play a key role in delivering Wessman’s new vision for the group.
“The global reach of the business is going to be accelerated,” he explained. “Norwich will be the U.S. strategic site for supplying the U.S. market.”
In order to achieve Wessman’s vision of building “a leaner and more flexible multinational operation that overcomes the challenges of the traditional generics business model,” Norwich will need to take its efficiency program and goals to the next level, Calhoun said.
“They need us to develop their vision. They expect that we can do it in a cost effective way,” he said. The company president said he believes the increased efficiency will make Norwich more attractive to prospective customers as well.
Norwich Pharmaceuticals and Alvogen will not only be getting Wessman’s expertise, but also an “equity infusion” from the Icelandic entrepreneur, according to Calhoun. That investment will mean equipment upgrades at the North Norwich facility to accommodate 10 new projects which will be starting immediately, he said.
While this may mean additional jobs in the long term, there will be a “lag time” as the new drugs move through the FDA approval process.
In the last few months, Norwich has shed nearly a quarter of its workforce, reducing its number of employees from 425 at the first of the year to 323 after the most recent round of layoffs. According to Calhoun, many of the reductions were “closely linked” to a delay in the approval of a product, and involved temporary staff.
Wessman was in North Norwich on Wednesday and Thursday of this week to tour the facility and meet with employees. During the visit, he told Calhoun that having Norwich Pharmaceuticals as an asset in the group was one of the deciding factors for him in joining Alvogen.
Calhoun said this was a testament to the long history of the company in the pharmaceutical industry and the generations of employees which have helped make it a success. Wessman’s confidence is a source of great pride, he said.