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About Us

Executive Team

NIKHIL LALWANI, President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Lalwani is ANI's President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of ANI's Board. Prior to joining ANI in September 2020, Mr. Lalwani worked at Cipla Ltd (NSE: CIPLA), a global pharmaceutical company, from May 2012 to August 2020 where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including CEO of Cipla USA, CEO of InvaGen, Head of US Strategy, M&A & Integration, and Head of Cipla's Global Respiratory business. In these roles, Mr. Lalwani developed and executed multi-year strategic growth plans for key products and facilitated successful acquisitions as Cipla entered the specialty pharmaceutical space. Prior to Cipla, Mr. Lalwani was an Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company serving pharmaceutical and healthcare companies across the world, and an engineer with Medtronic. Mr. Lalwani holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

STEPHEN P. CAREY, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Carey has been the Company’s Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer since May 2016, and a Sr. Vice President since December 2020. From June 2007 to October 2015, Mr. Carey held various executive financial positions at Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc., including Senior Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Carey held various financial and accounting positions at Schering-Plough Corporation. Mr. Carey has over 25 years of experience as a financial executive, 20 of which are in the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Carey began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Carey graduated from Montclair State University with a B.S. degree in Accounting.

JAMES G. MARKEN, Sr. Vice President, Operations and Product Development

Mr. Marken has been the Company’s Senior Vice President, Operations and Product Development since May 2016. He joined ANIP in March 2007 as General Manager of the Minnesota facilities and served as ANIP’s Vice President, Operations and Product Development from March 2009 until June 2013 when he became the Company’s Vice President, Operations. As Senior Vice President, Operations and Product Development, Mr. Marken has been principally responsible for the following areas: manufacturing, packaging, engineering/maintenance, purchasing, warehousing and product development. Mr. Marken brings over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience to the Company. Prior to joining ANIP in March 2007, he worked for Solvay Pharmaceuticals as plant manager and in various departments including quality control, validation, and manufacturing. Mr. Marken holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Bemidji State University.

CHRISTOPER MUTZ, Head of Rare Disease

Mr. Mutz brings deep experience in the successful commercialization of rare disease therapies, spending more than eight years with Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN). Most recently, as Vice President of the U.S. Neurology Business Unit, he was responsible for building and leading the successful launch of Soliris (eculizumab) for gMG and NMOSD in the United States. At Alexion, he also served as Vice President, U.S. Metabolic Business Unit and National Sales Director, U.S. Metabolic Business Unit. Prior to joining Alexion in 2011, Mr. Mutz served in commercial roles of increasing responsibility over the course of 11 years at Merck and Co. Mr. Mutz obtained his BA in Biology from the University of Virginia and his MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

ORI GUTWERG, Senior Vice President of Generics

Mr. Gutwerg is a seasoned leader and brings more than 17 years of experience building and driving growth in pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Mr. Gutwerg served as Vice President, Head of U.S. Generics Rx at Taro Pharmaceuticals, overseeing a portfolio of nearly 300 generic and branded products. In that role, he drove double-digit top- and bottom-line growth, improved working capital through cost savings and efficiencies, rationalized the R&D pipeline and negotiated numerous business development deals to accelerate growth. Prior to joining Taro, he held positions with Xiromed US, Perrigo Pharmaceuticals, and Agis Group. Throughout his career, he has managed sales teams, built a commercial operations team, led M&A due diligence activities, and negotiated new business development and joint venture agreements. Mr. Gutwerg has a BS in Communications and Economics from The College of Management and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

MUTHUSAMY "SAMY" SHANMUGAM, Head of R&D and COO of NJ Operations

Mr. Shanmugam is ANI's Head of Research & Development and Chief Operating Officer of New Jersey Operations and a member of ANI's Board. Mr. Shanmugam joined the Board in November 2021 in connection with ANI's acquisition of Novitium Pharma, where he was the President and Founder. Mr. Shanmugam has over three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as President of Novitium from 2016 to November 2021. Mr. Shanmugam began his career as a formulation scientist at Kali Laboratories, Inc. and grew to become a leading formulation development scientist in the generic drug industry. Prior to co-founding Novitium, Mr. Shanmugam also held positions at Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Novel Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Shanmugam obtained his M.S. in Industrial Pharmacy from the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University and is a registered pharmacist in the state of New York.

CHAD GASSERT, Sr. Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy

Mr. Gassert joined ANI in November 2021, through ANI's acquisition of Novitium Pharma, where he was Co-Founder and CEO. At Novitium, Mr. Gassert lead the build out of a fully integrated Gx pharmaceutical company focused on research & development, manufacturing, and distribution of prescription products. Prior to Novitium, Mr. Gassert worked at Par Pharmaceuticals from 2005 - 2016 where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including Senior Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Mr. Gassert headed corporate and business development activities including merger/acquisitions, partnerships and licensing, portfolio management, project management and strategic sourcing teams. Prior to Par, Mr. Gassert worked at Sandoz & Wyeth as both a formulation and technical services scientist. Mr. Gassert holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Delaware.

MEREDITH W. COOK, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Ms. Cook is ANI's Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining ANI in July 2022, Ms. Cook served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she was responsible for corporate and strategic transactions across all business units, with additional responsibilities related to corporate governance, commercial contracts, employment matters, and overall IP strategy. Prior to Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Cook served as Global Legal Head, M&A, Business Development and Strategic Transactions for Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Inc. She was previously with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP and Vinson & Elkins, LLP. Ms. Cook earned her bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and her Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School.

KRISTA DAVIS, Chief Human Resources Officer

Ms. Davis brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience in human resources, talent management, and organizational development. Prior to joining ANI, Ms. Davis served as a global Head of People & Organization for the Novartis Technical Operations Division, where she led P&O for the Global Cell & Gene platforms. She also sat on the Global P&O divisional leadership team, the Cell & Gene leadership team, and on the US P&O board. Prior to Novartis, Ms. Davis was Global Director, Leadership and Talent Management at A.T. Kearny. She also served previously as VP, Head of HR for North America at Reckitt Benckiser, and in a variety of leadership roles at Catalent Pharma Solutions, Biovail Pharmaceuticals, and Dun & Bradstreet. Ms. Davis earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University and a master’s degree in Educational Technology from Concordia University.