REYKJAVIK, ICELAND--(Marketwire - August 05, 2008) - Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, today announced that Robert Wessman has stepped down as the Chief Executive Officer of Actavis Group to put greater focus on his investment company Salt Investments. Wessman will continue to serve on the Actavis Board of Directors. The new Chief Executive Officer is Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, former Deputy CEO.
Sigurdur Oli Olafsson joined Actavis in 2003, after working for Pfizer UK from 1998 and moving to Pfizer US in 2001 to take a post in Global Research and Development. Prior to that, he served as Marketing Manager of Omega Farma (now part of Actavis), later becoming its Drug Development Manager. Olafsson became the Managing Director of Actavis Inc. in the US in 2003. He became Chief Executive of Corporate Development in 2004 and Chief Executive of Sales & Marketing International in 2005. He has been Deputy CEO since 2006. Olafsson holds a Pharmacy degree from the University of Iceland.
Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, Chairman of Actavis Group, commented: “The Board of Directors of Actavis Group would like to thank Robert Wessman for his near ten year contribution to the group. He has been CEO of Actavis since 2002 when Delta and Pharmaco merged and Actavis was created. Previously he had led Delta for three years. Mr. Wessman has played an important role in shaping and realising Actavis’ vision and executing its successful strategy for growth. Under his management the company has become one of the five leading generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. The Board welcomes Sigurdur Oli Olafsson as the new CEO of the company. We know that under his leadership the company will continue to provide excellent service to its customers and maintain its role as one of the world’s leading companies in the development, manufacturing and sales of high quality generic drugs.”
Robert Wessman, leaving the CEO position at Actavis Group: “The past years at Actavis have been a true adventure. I’m proud to look back at the tremendous growth of the company. Actavis is now in a solid position as a major global generic pharmaceutical player. I would like to thank the whole Actavis team for the partnership. This incredible group of people has in my mind pulled off an amasing achievement. I now look forward to moving on to new challenges where I will focus on my investment company, Salt Investments, that has been growing very fast during the past year.”
Sigurdur Oli Olafsson new CEO of Actavis Group: “Actavis is currently in a strong position among the top five generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. It is important to continue the remarkable Actavis growth story, so the position at the helm is an enormous responsibility to assume. I’m ready for the challenge and look forward to continuing work with our 11-thousand employees on the continued success of the Group. Demand for generic pharmaceuticals is on the rise globally, independent of economic cycles. The development of new generic pharmaceuticals is among Actavis’ major strengths and I consider it one of our top priorities to use it to further strengthen our position in our key markets in Europe, North-America and Asia.”
www.actavis.com www.saltinvestments.com About Actavis Group
Actavis is one of the world’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries, with 11,000 employees. Any statements contained in this press release that refer to Actavis’ estimated or anticipated future results or future activities are forward-looking statements which reflect the Company’s current analysis of existing trends, information and plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially depending on factors such as the availability of resources, the timing and effect of regulatory actions, the success of new products, the strength of competition, the success of research and development issues, unexpected contract breaches or terminations, exposure to product liability and other lawsuits, the effect of currency fluctuations and other factors.
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Actavis Group Hjördís Árnadóttir Director - External Communications Tel: (+354) 535 2300 / 840 7476 E-mail: Email Contact
