Alvogen CEO Robert Wessman was the happy recipient of the Leader of the Year award at the prestigious 2018 Global Generics & Biosimilars Awards. This year’s ceremony was hosted at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid, Spain in October. An international panel of expert judges assessed more than 100 entries and declared Wessman the clear winner.
Alvogen’s growth in revenues and profitability has been outstanding under Wessman’s leadership, with the company delivering an impressive 59% average growth per year since 2009. Last year, Alvogen posted global revenues exceeding US$1bn for the first time. Meanwhile, sister company, Alvotech, is in a great position to take advantage of the market shift towards biosimilars, with a new state-of-the-art biotech manufacturing facility which recently received a GMP manufacturing license.
Alvogen was nominated for a total of four awards this year. In addition to Leader of the Year award, it was nominated for Company of the Year (EMEA), Acquisition of the Year and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative of the Year.
Alvogen’s Company of the Year nomination is largely due to its growing status as a global company in the sector with commercial operations in 35 countries. Alvogen now has a global team of 2,800 employees and operates five manufacturing and development hubs in the US, Romania, Korea and Taiwan.
The Acquisition of the Year nomination comes in recognition of Alvogen’s acquisition of Omega Bittner, a Russia-based pharmaceutical firm owned by Perrigo Company. It’s a move that supports Alvogen’s strategy to gain more exposure to Russia’s high growth market.
Of all these awards, Leader of the Year is one of the most coveted and a deserved accolade for the man who has managed to turn Alvogen into a one-billion-dollar business in such a short time.
The award ceremony was held during the largest pharmaceutical trade show in the world, CPhI.