Dr Reddy's appoints Erez Israeli as COO and head of global generics biz

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited on Thursday announced a change in the senior leadership team. The company has appointed former president and CEO of Enzymotec, Erez Israeli, as the chief operating officer and global head of generics and PSAI (pharmaceutical services and active ingredients).

He will replace Abhijit Mukherjee, who is retiring on March 31, 2018 after a 15-year stint at Dr Reddy's. For the first time, the company is bringing in a senior management hand from outside India though a couple of senior people from global pharma industry have been currently serving on the board as independent, non-wholetime directors.  

Israeli's entry comes at a time Dr Reddy's was going through a rather extended period of regulatory and growth challenges since 2015.

In a career spanning 25 years, Israeli has held leadership positions that have contributed significantly to the performance of companies he worked for, Dr Reddy's said. Prior to Enzymotec, he completed 23 years with global pharmaceutical company Teva Pharmaceuticals Limited, where he held several positions of responsibility including vice president, marketing and sales for North America, vice president Asia Operations, president Teva API, group executive vice president, head of global quality, and president and CEO growth markets. 

Appointed as president and CEO at Enzymotec effective April 18, 2017, Israeli ends his tenure within a year's time and this only suggests Dr Reddy's keenness for having him in the top leadership team at present juncture.

Israeli will join Dr Reddy's on April 2, 2018. He will report to its co-chairman and CEO G V Prasad.

"I would like to thank Abhijit for his valuable contribution to our company's growth journey over the past fifteen years. I extend a warm welcome to Erez Israeli. Erez is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of achievements. His knowledge and experience from leading pharmaceutical businesses of scale will be valuable for our future growth," Prasad said.

Mukherjee held the position of COO since 2014. He had also led global generics business. He achieved success as president-PSAI, before being elevated to the position of COO.

Dr Reddy's has UK-born Bruce L A Carter, who currently serves as an executive chairman of Global Alliance for TB Drug development and Switzerland-born Hans Peter Hasler, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Vicarious Pharma AG on its board among the other independent, non-wholetime directors.