Hospira Names Operations SVP

Matthew R. Stober has been named senior vice president of operations at Hospira. Mr. Stober will assume leadership for all of Hospira’s pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, and will have responsibility for the operations functions, including manufacturing science and technology, engineering, competitive strategy, health and safety, supply chain and procurement. Mr. Stober succeeds John B. Elliot, who will provide support until his retirement at the end of the year. Both Mr. Elliot and Mr. Stober will serve as members of the company’s senior leadership team, led by chief executive officer F. Michael Ball.
 
Mr. Stober joined the company in 2011 as corporate vice president, U.S. Pharma Operations, where he has held primary responsibility for Hospira’s Rocky Mount, NC; McPherson, KS; Austin, TX; and Clayton, NC, 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. FDA drug shortage list to help alleviate the industry-wide 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. Mr. Stober has nearly 25 years of industry experience, having held significant leadership roles at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merck.

“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.”