Seven major health systems joined forces to form a nonprofit generic drug company, Civica Rx, to address drug shortages and combat the rising price of medications.
Here is its 10-member executive leadership team:
1. CEO: Martin VanTrieste. Mr. VanTrieste, former chief quality officer for Amgen, will serve as Civica Rx's chief executive. Prior to Amgen, Mr. VanTrieste served as vice president of worldwide quality at Bayer AG and vice president of quality assurance for Abbott Laboratories. He has more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceuticals. Mr. VanTrieste agreed to lead the company without compensation.
2. CFO: Vikram Lamba. Mr. Lamba, who joined Civica in 2018, has more than 22 years of finance and merger and acquisition experience. Most recently, Mr. Lamba serviced as CFO and COO of Fortuna Fix, a cell therapy company focusing on treatments for neurodegeneration and neurotrauma.
3. Chief Manufacturing and Supply Chain Officer: Russell Gall. Mr. Gall has been involved in consulting in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors throughout his career. He brings over 30 years of leadership experience to Civica Rx. Mr. Gall has had direct responsibility for more than 21 global manufacturing sites.
4. Chief R&D Officer: Scott Gochnour. Mr. Gochnour, who brings extensive experience in developing and optimizing product performance, will serve as Civica Rx's chief research and development officer. He previously served as senior vice president for global generic R&D for Teva Pharmaceuticals.
5. Chief Quality & Regulatory Affairs Officer: Donna Gulbinski. Ms. Gulbinski has more than 30 years of experience in helping companies achieve quality and compliance. She joined Civica Rx from Lachman Consultants, where she served as vice president of compliance practice. Prior to Lachman, she served as head of quality for Bristol-Myers Squibb.
6. Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer: Debbi Ford. Ms. Ford brings more than 25 years of corporate communications and public relations experience to Civica Rx. She has held various communications positions at Alexion, Amgen, Novartis and Shire.
7. Chief Business Development Officer: Ned McCoy. Mr. McCoy is responsible for developing and signing long-term supply partnerships to prevent drug shortages and rein in drug prices at Civica. Prior to joining the company, Mr. McCoy worked for Abbott for 32 years.
8. General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer: Jennifer Spalding. Ms. Spalding will provide strategic legal advice and lead a team of lawyers at Civica Rx. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Spalding worked as senior vice president and general counsel in the medical segment for Cardinal Health.
9. Chief Commercial Officer: Heather Wall. Ms. Wall has a 20-year plus career in hospital management, hospital strategy and care quality. Prior to joining Civica, Ms. Spalding served as enterprise initiative partner and an operations officer at Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare.
10. Business Partner of Business Services & Operations: Greg Larsen. In his role, Mr. Larsen will work to build infrastructure and direct business services and operations. He previously worked at Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health, where he established an outpatient project management office.