George Svokos has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president sales and general manager API at AMRI. Mr. Svokos will report to William S. Marth, president and chief executive officer.
 
Mr. Svokos had been with Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. since 1979. Most recently, he was senior vice president of product and portfolio selection, and business development, responsible for strategic planning, portfolio selection, and new product introductions. Mr. Svokos also held positions as senior vice president, U.S. Technical Operations, and executive vice president of Commercial Operations, Teva API. He currently serves as senior vice president of the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) and will become its president next year.
 
“Mr. Svokos is a strategic thinker who comes to AMRI with years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, business development, R&D, and sales and marketing,” said Mr. Marth. “With his experience handling a large sales force in a multibillion dollar business, Mr. Svokos’ main focus is to develop a commercial strategy around active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), as well as to assist on the sales side of the business.”
 
Additionally, Vijay Kumar Batra has been appointed managing director, AMRI India. Mr. Batra will report to Steve Hagen, Ph.D., senior vice president of manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
 
Mr. Batra held several executive roles with Teva Pharmaceuticals since 2003. Most recently, he was vice chairman and managing director, Teva API India, responsible for R&D and manufacturing of APIs and advanced intermediates for the global market. Mr. Batra also served as chairman of Teva API China, president and director of JK Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and advisor at JK Pharmachem Ltd. He has also held roles with Ranbaxy, Kinetics Technology India Ltd., and Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd.
 
“Mr. Batra brings a wealth of experience in the APIs and intermediates business and he also brings a leadership acumen that helps AMRI continue our plan for growth in the Indian and world markets,” said Dr. Hagen. “We are excited to have Vijay on our leadership team. He has a strong record of leading business growth in the area of API and intermediates and is highly respected by those who have worked with him and the businesses he has led.”