New leader for Avanir: Rohan Palekar named president, CEO

 

Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. has appointed Rohan Palekar as president and CEO. Palekar joined Avanir in March 2012 as senior VP and chief commercial officer, and was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer in March 2015. Mr. Palekar replaces Keith A. Katkin, who served as president and CEO since March 2007 and will transition to the board of directors for Avanir.

“After nearly a decade of serving as Avanir’s president and CEO, I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished and how much we have grown, transitioning from a development to a commercial organization,” Katkin says. “During that time, we have had the opportunity to help thousands of patients who suffer from psuedobulbar affect (PBA) and develop a strong pipeline. I am very pleased to be transitioning to this new role and handing the reins to Rohan, a passionate and innovative leader who has a 20-year track record in managing and growing organizations and brands and has made significant contributions since joining Avanir over three years ago. I look forward to continuing to be involved in the company in my new role serving as a member of Avanir’s board of directors.”

“I am excited by the opportunity to lead Avanir as we continue to successfully commercialize our first FDA-approved product, Nuedexta, transition to a two-product company with the potential near-term approval of our migraine candidate, AVP-825, and advance the development of our pipeline of products for CNS disorders,” Palekar says. “This pipeline is key to achieving our vision of becoming a leading specialty CNS company and helping patients suffering from a wide range of CNS disorders.”

Palekar has more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in drug development and commercialization. In his previous position as executive VP and chief operating officer for Avanir, he led the commercial, finance and IT, legal affairs, human resources, business development and corporate communications functions.

Before joining Avanir, Palekar was chief commercial officer for Medivation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs in oncology and neuroscience.

Before Medivation, he spent 16 years at Johnson & Johnson in various senior commercial and strategic management roles, including worldwide VP of immunology and VP of sales and marketing at Centocor.
Palekar received an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and a B.A./B.S. in law and accounting from the University of Bombay.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative medicines to patients with central nervous system disorders of high unmet medical need. Avanir is a subsidiary of Otsuka America Inc. (OAI), a holding company established in the United States in 1989. OAI is wholly owned by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.  medadnews