Unilife Taps Former BD Pharma Executive for COO Spot Unilife Corporation’s “pivotal&r

Unilife Taps Former BD Pharma Executive for COO Spot

Unilife Corporation’s “pivotal” 2010 fiscal year appears to be spilling into 2011.

The company relocated to the United States (from Australia) in April 2009 to better position itself in the global pharmaceutical drug delivery devices market. Last April, the firm began 24-hour manufacturing cycles of its Unitract 1-millileter syringe after receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. And its Asian distribution partner, Stason Pharmaceuticals, ramped up its efforts to establish relationships with local pharmacies in Asia.

Last month, the company took another step to expand its global footprint in the drug delivery devices market by appointing Ramin Mojdeh, Ph.D., as chief operating officer and executive vice president. The appointment took effect Feb. 7.

Mojdeh has more than 25 years of business leadership experience in various industries; for 18 of those years, he has been involved in the design, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing of therapeutic and diagnostic medical devices for several multinational companies, including Becton Dickinson and Company (BD), GE Healthcare and Boston Scientific Inc. At Unilife, Mojdeh will help expand and accelerate discussions with pharmaceutical companies about the company’s Unifill syringe and other products in development.

Mojdeh spent the last eight years at BD, serving as vice president and general manager of BD Medical, Pharmaceutical Systems, North America from 2008 to 2010. In that role, he directed all aspects of the division’s North American operations including sales, marketing, business development, commercial development, finance, research and development, manufacturing, operations, quality assurance, regulatory and legal affairs, and human resources. From 2002 to 2008, Mojdeh was worldwide vice president of Research and Development for BD Medical.
He also was a board member of BD Ventures Inc., the company’s venture capital arm that manages all technology and innovation activities. He also served as chairman of the Advanced Drug Delivery Council, an organization that identifies and develops new growth strategies in the drug delivery device space.

Before joining BD, Mojdeh worked as business director for Invasive Cardiology at GE Healthcare in 2002. He spent the previous 10 years at Guidant Corporation (before it was acquired by Boston Scientific), serving as business director of Advanced Patient Management (1999-2002) and business director of Advanced Patient Monitoring System (1996-1999).

Mojdeh received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.