Mangement changes at Pliva following acquisition by Barr

Following the successful closing of Barr Pharmaceutical's acquisition of Croatian drugmaker Pliva (Marketletter October 30), the companies have announced a combined management team, with the appointment of three new members. Pliva's management board will continue to be led by Zeljko Covic as president and chief operating officer and Ivan Mijatovic will remain chief financial officer. Joining the board will be Paul Bisaro, president and COO of parent firm Barr in the USA, Tim Sawyer, vice president, sales for generic products at Barr Laboratories and Zdravka Knezevic, executive director of global R&D at Pliva, with a mandate through to June 30, 2010. As a result of the combination and change in structure, Mike Urwin has elected to leave the board but has agreed to stay on for an interim period to help ensure a smooth integration.