LAKE FOREST, Ill.—Akorn, Inc. (Nasdaq:AKRX), a leading specialty generic pharmaceutical company, announced several executive appointments to the Akorn management team.

Jonathan Kafer, has been appointed executive vice president, sales and marketing at Akorn. In this newly created role, Kafer will oversee all commercial functions for all of Akorn's business units and he will also play an integral role in strategic market and product portfolio considerations, the company said.

Kafer was formerly vice president, account management at Allergan, Inc., where he was responsible for all trade activity within Allergan's wholesale, retail specialty pharmacy, e-solutions and managed market channels for all of Allergan's business units. Prior to Allergan, he was the vice president of sales and marketing for Health Systems at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Kafer has also served in various senior management roles at aaiPharma, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, HealthNexis and Novartis.

Randall Pollard was appointed vice president and corporate controller. In this role, Pollard will oversee all accounting and financial reporting functions within Akorn. Pollard joins Akorn from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently served as the head of accounting and reporting for Novartis' generic division, Sandoz. During his tenure at Novartis, Pollard also served as controller of the Sandoz division. Prior to Novartis/Sandoz, he has served in various financial leadership roles at Wyeth and Mayne Pharma.

Akorn named Steve Lichter executive vice president, pharmaceutical operations. In this newly created role, Lichter will oversee Akorn's global supply chain and plant operations.

Lichter joins Akorn from Abbott Laboratories where he served in various leadership roles over 32 years most recently as corporate vice president, operations, for Abbott's Established Pharmaceutical Division in Switzerland. In this role, Lichter was responsible for the division's global supply chain operations including active and finished drug product manufacturing, procurement, manufacturing, engineering and commercial operations.

Jaspreet Gill, former vice president, corporate quality at Baxter, was appointed executive vice president, global quality compliance. In her newly created role at Akorn, Gill will oversee global regulatory compliance for all Akorn manufacturing sites as well as members of Akorn's supply chain. Prior to Baxter, Gill held quality leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson and began her career at Bio-Rad Laboratories.

"It is an honor to welcome Jon, Randy, Steve and Jaspreet to the Akorn team," stated Raj Rai, CEO of Akorn. "These four experienced and well-qualified executives bring skills and expertise that will further strengthen our leadership team and prepare Akorn for future growth opportunities."

Akorn markets its portfolio of close to 200 different products to retail pharmacies, ophthalmologists, optometrists, physicians, veterinarians, hospitals, clinics, wholesalers, distributors, group purchasing organizations and government agencies. Akorn has manufacturing facilities located in Decatur, Ill.; Somerset, N.J.; Amityville, N.Y.; Hettlingen, Switzerland and Paonta Sahib, India.