Pharmaceuticals Veteran Janet Vergis Joins Warburg Pincus As Executive-In-Residence

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Jan 07, 2013, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, today announced the appointment of Janet Vergis as an Executive-in-Residence (EIR). Ms. Vergis will support the firm in the identification and evaluation of investment opportunities in the biopharmaceutical sector, particularly in the United States.

Ms. Vergis joins Warburg Pincus with 25 years of pharmaceutical experience and a strong track record of growing businesses. Most recently, Ms. Vergis served as the Chief Executive Officer of OraPharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oral health, where she led the successful turnaround and subsequent sale of the company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Prior to her role at OraPharma, Ms. Vergis managed a $6 billion portfolio at Johnson & Johnson as President of Janssen Pharmaceutica, McNeil Pediatrics, and Ortho-McNeil Neurologics. Ms. Vergis also contributed to a number of Johnson & Johnson companies during her career, serving as a member of company management boards for more than 10 years and holding positions of increasing responsibility in research and development, new product development, sales, and marketing.

Bess Weatherman, head of the Healthcare Group at Warburg Pincus, said, "Janet is an experienced industry leader who brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to our investment activities. She understands the significant opportunities in the biopharmaceutical sector and will work with us to identify and evaluate companies with the strongest potential for growth and value creation."

Ms. Vergis commented, "Warburg Pincus and its Healthcare Group have a well-deserved reputation for backing world-class management teams to build durable growth businesses of scale. I'm excited to be working with the team."

Ms. Vergis earned a B.S. degree in Biology and an M.S. degree in Physiology from The Pennsylvania State University.

About Warburg Pincus

Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $30 billion in assets under management. Its active portfolio of more than 125 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $40 billion in over 650 companies in more than 30 countries.

Since inception, the firm has invested over $8.1 billion in more than 140 healthcare companies, including investments in American Medical Systems, Bausch + Lomb, Coventry Health Care, Eurand (acquired by Axcan in 2011), Euromedic International (acquired by Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and Ares Life Sciences in 2008), Harbin Pharmaceuticals, Lepu Medical Technology, RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Rural/Metro Corporation, Tornier and Zentiva (acquired by sanofi-aventis in 2009).

The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com.