Norwich Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has made several appointments as part of the company’s initiative to expand its contract manufacturing and packaging services. Douglas L. Drysdale has been appointed to the newly created position of chief executive officer and Thomas Salus and Robert Klehr will be responsible for new business development. Mr. Salus and Mr. Klehr will be based in NJ and will share responsibility for covering the U.S.
   
Mr. Drysdale most recently served as vice president, Mergers & Acquisitions for Actavis Group. He previously held positions at Alpharma, Inc. as vice president, global business development, and at Forest Laboratories. Mr. Drysdale has been involved in more than 100 pharmaceutical and biotech transactions.
   
Christopher R. Calhoun, who will continue serving as president of Norwich Pharmaceuticals, said, “We are very excited to have someone of Doug’s caliber as our CEO. His in-depth pharmaceutical experience will help Norwich accelerate its current rate of growth, while remaining true to the high standards of quality and uncommon value that the industry has come to expect from us.”
   
Mr. Salus and Mr. Klehr both have held managerial and sales positions within the pharmaceutical outsourcing industry. Mr. Salus most recently applied his business development experience on behalf of Glatt Pharmaceutical Services. Prior to Glatt, Mr. Salus held positions with Banner Pharmacaps and AAI, Inc.
   
Bob Klehr joins the company after serving as director of business development for DPT Laboratories. Prior to DPT, Mr. Klehr held positions at Patheon and Fisher Scientific Co.
   
The company plans to make future capital investments in its business to support its growth plan. In 2008, Norwich will add a new packaging line, a capsule bander, and two Bosch 1500 encapsulators.