Grifols Announces New North American Commercial Operations Organization

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Grifols, a global healthcare company and biopharmaceutical manufacturer based in Barcelona, Spain, has announced the structure of its new North American Commercial Operations.  Under the new Commercial Operations structure, the U.S. commercial group will be organized by product portfolio to better serve patients and customers throughout North America.  The Canadian organization, a major presence within North American operations, will remain structurally unchanged.

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"By creating cross-functional teams for the major product areas, the sales, marketing, and business functions can work more closely together toward customer-specific goals and objectives," said Gregory Rich, President and CEO of Grifols' North American operations. "This will provide greater focus for our teams and permit us to build upon our existing customer partnerships as well as establish new ones," continued Mr. Rich.  Dedicated national accounts and managed care teams will complement the product portfolio-based sales and marketing teams.  

Joel Abelson will serve as the president of Grifols' North American Commercial Operations.  Mr. Abelson was formerly head of Talecris' International Commercial Operations.  In his new position, he will oversee the marketing and sales strategy for all of Grifols' North American products.  Mr. Abelson has nearly 20 years of senior management experience in the healthcare industry and was responsible for Talecris' commercial operations in all markets outside of the United States and Europe.

Grifols' North American Commercial Operations will be supported by a team of experienced professionals with a proven track record of meeting patient and customer needs in the plasma therapeutics industry and the general healthcare arena.

• Bill Zabel, Vice President and General Manager of IVIG/Albumin/Hypermune Products  

Mr. Zabel has more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience, and he has worked in the biological therapeutics industry for more than a decade.  He previously served as Talecris' U.S. Vice President of Sales and held senior commercial positions in Bayer Healthcare Corporation.

• Whitney Herd, Vice President and General Manager of Hematology/Diagnostics/Hospital Products  

Ms. Herd has nearly 16 years of healthcare leadership experience working both in biopharmaceutical and diagnostic companies.  Ms. Herd previously served as Vice President and General Manager of Grifols U.S. Bioscience portfolio.

• Lafmin Morgan, Vice President and General Manager of Pulmonary Products

Mr. Morgan previously served as Talecris' Vice President of U.S. Product Management.  He joined the organization in 2010 from GlaxoSmithKline, where he served twenty years in various finance, sales, commercial strategy, and marketing roles across a variety of therapeutic areas.

Key members of the senior Commercial Operations team also include Don Sedlack, who will serve as Senior Director of National Accounts overseeing Grifols' relationship with large national product purchasers and George Oliver, Senior Director of Managed Care, who has over 25 years of experience in the industry and will continue to meet the unique needs of the managed care market segment.  

"This new organizational structure and approach to our business presents a number of exciting opportunities," said Joel Abelson. "The new Commercial Operations group reflects the diverse talent and knowledge of our organization and positions us to better identify and address the needs of our customers and patients," continued Mr. Abelson.  Grifols predicts that the transition to the new structure will be seamless, without any disruption in the group's business operations or in the supply of products to North American customers.

About Grifols

Grifols is a global pharmaceutical company that specializes in the development and production of plasma-derived protein therapies as well as hospital pharmacy products, intravenous solutions, laboratory tools and medical devices. The company's class A shares have been listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange (MCE:GRF) since 2006 and have been part of the Ibex-35 since 2008.  In 2011, the company listed non-voting class B shares on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ via ADRs (NASDAQ: GRFS).  

Grifols is the third largest producer of plasma protein therapies since its recent acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics. With a presence in more 90 countries, Grifols is committed to strengthening its position in the industry through ongoing investments in research and development, manufacturing, and international expansion. Grifols is the world leader in plasma collection, with 147 plasma donation centers in the United States to ensure a reliable source of high-quality plasma for the production of its life-saving protein therapies. In terms of production capacity (fractionation), Grifols owns and operates several plants in Spain and the United States that enable the company to respond to the growing market demand for protein therapies. Grifols' sustained growth will be supported by a strong presence in the United States, Canada and Europe, where upcoming sales are expected to represent 53%, 7% and 26%, respectively.

SOURCE Grifols