Zvonko Bogdanovski to succeed President of the Board of Management of Lek Vojmir Urlep upon his retirement
Zvonko Bogdanovski, a Member of the Lek Board of Management and Cluster Head Central and Eastern Europe/CIS at Sandoz, will succeed Vojmir Urlep in the position of President of the Board of Management of Lek on August 2, 2017.
Under the leadership of Vojmir Urlep, Novartis has become a leading provider of medicines in Slovenia and one of the most important economic entities contributing to the Slovenian gross domestic product. Vojmir Urlep leads with integrity more than 4,000 associates across Slovenia and fosters their cooperation and courage. He is the recipient of numerous top business and national acknowledgements for outstanding business achievements.
The decision on the successor for the Lek CEO position was guided by three factors: knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, extensive experience in management and familiarity with working in an international matrix business environment. Zvonko Bogdanovski possesses all three qualities.
He graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Ljubljana in 1983 and started his business career at Lek as a researcher, analyst and development technologist; after which he spent the majority of his career in pharmaceutical marketing and sales management, both in Slovenia and abroad. Together with his colleagues, he developed an international sales network that today still forms the basis for the development of Sandoz business, especially in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS.
»I perceive my appointment to lead the Lek Board of Management as an important new challenge in my career path and as proof of the company’s trust and confidence in my work so far. I am being given the responsibility for managing a highly successful company that operates with responsibility to patients, employees and society at large. I believe, that with my existing experience and knowledge I will continue on the outlined path and lead the company on its journey towards further future success,« Zvonko Bogdanovski said upon his appointment.
Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the key pillars of the second-largest generic pharmaceutical company globally. Its role within Sandoz is to act as: a leading global development center for technologically demanding products and technologies; a key global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines; a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products; a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar active ingredients and products; a supply center for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South East Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and is responsible for marketing and sales of Sandoz products on the Slovenian market. For further information, please visit www.lek.si.
Sandoz is a global leader in generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. We contribute to society’s ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached more than 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.
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For further details visit www.sandoz.com/makingaccesshappen
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9 billion (USD 8.4 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.novartis.com.
This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.
For additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com
