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, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Carey is ANI’s Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Executive Officer, and has over 30 years of experience as a financial executive, more than 25 of which are in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining ANI in May 2016, Mr. Carey held various executive financial positions at Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (“Par”) from June 2007 to October 2015, including Senior Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. During his tenure at Par, he supported the company during its 2012 $1.9 billion leveraged buyout with TPG Capital and ultimately, its sale to Endo International plc in 2015 for $8 billion. Prior to that, Mr. Carey held various financial and accounting positions at Schering-Plough Corporation in support of its U.S. and European branded pharmaceutical businesses. Mr. Carey began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and graduated from Montclair State University with a B.S. in Accounting. MEREDITH W. COOK, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Ms. Cook is ANI’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Cook joined ANI in July 2022 and brings over 20 years of experience to the role. Prior to joining ANI, 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 IP. 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, where she represented clients in a variety of industries, including in the pharmaceutical and life sciences space. Ms. Cook earned her bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and her Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School.
KRISTA DAVIS, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Ms. Davis joined ANI in September 2022 and 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 (“P&O”) 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 a B.A. from McGill University and an M.A. in Educational Technology from Concordia University.
CHAD GASSERT, Senior 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 led the build out of a fully integrated generic pharmaceutical company focused on research & development, manufacturing, and distribution of prescription products. Prior to Novitium, Mr. Gassert worked at Par Pharmaceuticals from 2005 to 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 mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and licensing, portfolio management, project management and strategic sourcing teams. Prior to Par, Mr. Gassert worked at Sandoz and Wyeth as both a formulation and technical services scientist. Mr. Gassert holds a B.S. in nutritional science from the University of Delaware.
ORI GUTWERG, Senior Vice President, 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 B.S. in Communications and Economics from The College of Management and an M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University.
CHRISTOPER MUTZ, Senior Vice President, Head of Rare Disease
Mr. Mutz joined ANI in February 2021 and serves as the Company’s Head of its Rare Disease business. Prior to joining ANI, Mr. Mutz provided consulting services to pharma/biotech companies on pre-launch commercial strategy and life cycle management focused on rare diseases. Mr. Mutz has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including eight years at Alexion Pharmaceuticals and 10 years at Merck and Co. ("Merck"). From November 2011 to April 2019, Mr. Mutz held various leadership positions in sales and marketing business units at Alexion and served as Vice President, Metabolic Business Unit and then later Vice President, Neurology Business Unit. While at Merck, Mr. Mutz held various roles in U.S. Sales, U.S. Marketing and Global Marketing, including a leadership position in Merck’s China subsidiary. Mr. Mutz holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Cornell 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 is a director and founder of Nuray Chemicals Private Limited and Sthree Chemicals Private Limited, both located in India and engaged in manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and is a director and founder of SS Pharma LLC, which acts as a U.S. agent for sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Mr. Shanmugam is also a director and founder of Scitus Pharma Services Pvt Ltd, a clinical research organization also located in India. 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.
THOMAS ROWLAND, Senior Vice President, Head of Established Brands
Thomas Rowland is ANI’s Senior Vice President, Head of Established Brands. Prior joining ANI in November 2021, Mr. Rowland was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceuticals company with a portfolio across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to that, Mr. Rowland was Chief Business Officer at Ventrus Biosciences, a development stage company focused in gastroenterology. Mr. Rowland has more than 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical operations, including in leading commercial organizations as large as 650 personnel and with revenue up to $500 million. Mr. Rowland has also led development team, regulatory, quality and manufacturing functions. Mr. Rowland holds a B.S. in Finance from Metropolitan State University.
