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Corporate Executives
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Marcy A. Bliss | Chief Executive Officer
Marcy A. Bliss, chief executive officer of private-equity-owned
Wedgewood Pharmacy, is responsible for overall company performance.
She is a member of the board of directors and works with the
owners, board, and management team to set and to ensure the
delivery of patient care, prescriber service, corporate vision,
mission, strategy, structure, and long-term goals. The company’s
brand is recognized by 99% of veterinarians in the United States.
Her responsibilities include:
- Managing investor relations and board support;
- Driving external relationships that raise the company’s
thought-leadership status through publication and participation
in industry organizations;
- Leading legal and legislative initiatives that mitigate
business risk, ensuring patient access to the company’s
medications and supporting overall industry sustainability;
- Leading growth activities including developing strategic
partnerships with technology companies, group purchasing
organizations, and corporate groups;
- Identifying and managing merger and acquisition
opportunities;
- Providing strategic communication and legal support to the
organization’s marketing, human resources, and legislative
functions; and
- Installing a breakthrough culture and developing the
leadership team, including the company’s strategic and
operations team leaders.
Under her leadership, in July 2018 the company acquired a
significant competitor, Diamondback Drugs, in Scottsdale, Arizona,
adding a second compounding pharmacy location and 180 employees. In
2020, the company acquired Wildlife Pharmaceuticals and its
ZooPharm subsidiary; and opened a 503B Outsourcing Facility,
Wedgewood Connect, in San Jose, California.
During her tenure, Wedgewood Pharmacy has received many awards.
In 2019, she was honored personally by the Gloucester County
Chamber of Commerce as Businessperson of the Year. In 2017, the
company received the annual Award for Excellence from the New
Jersey Business & Industry Association in the Outstanding Employer
category, recognizing the company’s creative and forward-looking
approach to managing its workforce. In that same year, the company
received the inaugural P.E.T. award from the PSI Business
Symposium. The award’s acronym stands for three vital components of
veterinary practice success, People, Education and Training.
Wedgewood Pharmacy was recognized as the Education winner for its
substantial public affairs education work with veterinarians, state
and federal legislators and regulators. In 2016, the company
received the fourth annual Marcum Innovator of the Year Award,
which recognizes the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area’s most
innovative individuals and organizations in their fields. In 2015,
the company received the Annual Award for Excellence from the New
Jersey Business and Industry Association in the Business Success
category, recognizing the company’s contribution to the state’s
economic growth through the expansion of its business.
A tireless defender of veterinary compounding and a fierce
advocate for the rights of animals and pet parents, she leads the
company's public affairs and issues-management programs and is
frequently seen on Capitol Hill, protecting patient and prescriber
access to compounded medication. She also speaks to professional
groups about the compounding pharmacy profession, marketing, and
public affairs.
Most recently she was executive vice president of business
operations and marketing for Wedgewood Pharmacy, having begun her
career with the company in early 1999 as employee number eight.
Over the years, she assumed positions of increasing responsibility,
many with a significant emphasis on marketing, product development,
and pharmacy growth.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, she was chief marketing
officer for the accounting and consulting firm, The Siegfried
Group. Previously, she was a member of the staff of American Red
Cross's (ARC) national office in Washington, DC, for planning,
evaluation, and chapter operations and later served as
communication manager for the Wilmington chapter of the ARC.
In addition to her role on the board of Wedgewood Pharmacy since
2016, she serves on the board of the New Jersey Business and
Industry Association. She is a member of the board of trustees of
The Appel Farm Arts & Music Center (chair 2018-2020), where she is
committed to supporting its mission of transforming lives through
the arts. She is a member of the board of Together Women's Health,
a network of integrated women’s healthcare providers based in
Detroit. She is the first woman to serve as a New Harbor Capital
Executive Advisor, individuals who each have headed one or more
successful private-equity-backed businesses and provide advice and
suport to companies owned by New Harbor Capital. She also serves on
the board of IndeVets, a company built to return balance,
fulfillment, and joy to veterinary medicine. Previously, she served on the board of directors of the
Tobin Foundation for the Visually Impaired.
She holds a B.S. degree in Business/Marketing and Management
Studies from the University of Maryland. A life-long learner, she
has continued her education at Wharton Executive Education,
University of Pennsylvania, Aresty Institute of Executive
Education; the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford
University (Stanford, CA); and as an Executive Mastery client of
Gap International.
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Joe Costa | President and Chief Operating Officer
Joe Costa, president and chief operating officer for Wedgewood
Pharmacy, reports to Marcy Bliss, chief executive officer. He is
responsible to assure that corporate goals are met based on the
company's strategic plans. The three operating sites and the
quality, compliance, planning, procurement, and human-resources functions report to him. His responsibilities include:
- Setting objectives, goals, and budgets to achieve the
company’s vision, mission, strategies, and profitability
targets.
- Managing day-to-day operational team leaders to assure
quality preparations are safely shipped when needed at target
cost and within all regulations.
- Improving systems and process continuously to meet business
goals, develop talent, assure needed capacity, improve
preparation quality, and meet regulatory requirements.
- Building financial and analytical sophistication to drive
sound decision-making.
- Developing breakthrough culture with the extended
leadership team.
- Supporting merger and acquisition activities from
identification through integration.
He joined Wedgewood in 2016 as the chief operating officer and
was promoted to president and chief operating officer in August
2020.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, for four years he was the
vice president and general manager at PCI Pharma Services, a
contract packager for most of the major pharmaceutical and
medical-device manufacturers in the country. During his time at
that company, his site in New Jersey grew from $55M to $95M in
annual revenue due to a significant improvement in customer service
and an emphasis on building strong strategic customer
relationships.
He also worked at Covidien, a pharmaceutical and medical-device
manufacturer, progressing from a production manager to divisional
vice president of Global Operations during his 16-year career.
While vice president of Global Operations, he received the
President’s Award of Excellence for leadership during 2009’s “Great
Recession.” Previously, he worked at Procter & Gamble in various
manufacturing operations for six years.
He earned a B.S. degree in both Economics and Industrial
Management from Carnegie Mellon University and has also achieved
certifications in both lean manufacturing and six-sigma.
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Maria Kraus, CPA | Chief Financial Officer
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Maria Kraus, CPA, chief financial officer of Wedgewood Pharmacy,
reports to Marcy Bliss, chief executive officer. She is responsible
for the company’s Finance function including working with the board
of directors, the CEO, and other leaders to strategically drive and
support growth. She works with the Finance team to ensure that the
company’s systems and processes are scalable and able to meet the
demands of rapid growth and innovative business opportunities. She
has primary responsibility for planning, implementing, managing,
and controlling all financial-related activities of the company
including direct responsibility for accounting, finance, strategic
planning, job costing, deal analysis, licensing, data information,
capital planning, cash, and the budget/forecast process.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, she served for more than 25
years in financial leadership roles, most recently as CFO at
Accelerated Enrollment Solutions (AES), a global
patient-recruitment and site network organization providing
services to pharmaceutical companies performing clinical trials. In
this role, Maria was responsible for driving AES’ financial vision,
as well as leading all financial operations, planning and analysis,
accounting, commercial budgets, and internal controls.
Previously, she was executive vice president, Corporate
Development and Strategy at Bioclinica, where she was responsible
for that company’s strategic growth, including mergers and
acquisitions. She was formerly vice president and corporate
controller at Bioclinica where she led the Global Accounting and
Finance, Legal, Procurement, Facilities, Human Resources,
Marketing, and Information Technology Departments. Maria began her
career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia.
Maria is a board director of The Hershey Trust Company and a
board manager of the Milton Hershey School, where she serves as
vice chair, and chairs the Audit Committee. She also is a board
manager for the M.S. Hershey Foundation, and serves as chairman.
Maria also has been a board member with the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Pennsylvania for more than a decade.
Maria earned her B.S. degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania
State University and a certificate of Human Resources Management
from Villanova University. She is a certified public accountant.
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Bob Palmer | Chief Solutions Officer
Bob Palmer, chief solutions officer for Wedgewood Pharmacy, has
full strategic and operational accountability for business
operations. As a member of the Wedgewood
Pharmacy leadership team, he is accountable for performance
measures and for marshaling available resources to the most
productive uses, with the aim of creating maximum value for the
company and its customers. He has been in the information
technology profession since 1989.
Prior to joining Wedgewood in 2011, he was senior vice president
and CIO for Franklin Credit Management Corporation; vice president, IT and CIO for Brown-Forman Corporation-Lenox
Group, Inc.; senior programmer analyst for Johnson &
Johnson-Janssen Pharmaceutica; and lead analyst
for Emerson Quiet Kool.
He holds a B.S. degree in Management from Rowan University; and an M.B.A. degree from Rider University. He received a post-graduate Darden
Partnership certificate from the Darden Graduate School of Business
from the University of Virginia.
In 2001, he was recognized by Computerworld magazine as a 100
Premier Leader, receiving an exclusive Best in Class award.
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Wayne Anderson | Chief Information
Officer
Wayne Anderson, chief information officer for Wedgewood
Pharmacy, reports to Marcy Bliss, chief executive officer. He is
responsible for the company’s information technology function, with
emphasis on partnering with stakeholders to think strategically
about digital disruption and innovation and to help position the
organization to adapt rapidly and scale to meet the demands of
evolving business dynamics. Wayne is responsible primarily for
driving and supporting transformation efforts related to IT
strategy, e-commerce, business applications, IT engineering and
architecture, and cybersecurity.
Wayne has 30+ years of industry experience. Prior to joining
Wedgewood Pharmacy, he served as the CIO and VP for Graham
Packaging, a private-equity backed $2B manufacturer of engineered
rigid plastic packaging serving consumer-product markets from 80+
global locations. During his tenure, he focused efforts on
optimizing technology use to deliver value-added capabilities and
efficiencies across the enterprise and customer base. Cornerstones
of his included delivering native cloud capabilities and services,
building a ‘business-optimized’ IT operational model, building
partner ecosystems, and installing a full complement of
cybersecurity capabilities, among others.
Over the course of his career, he has held supply-chain,
technical, transformation, M&A integration, and
consulting-leadership assignments at manufacturing organizations
across a variety of industries, including defense electronics,
capital electronics, packaging, plastics, and chemicals.
Wayne earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering
from Purdue University. On numerous occasions throughout his career
he has presented at various technical conferences involving his
teams’ experiences implementing ERP solutions.
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Debra Kestenbaum | Chief People Officer
Debra Kestenbaum, chief people officer for Wedgewood
Pharmacy, has strategic and operational responsibility for the
human resources (HR) function. She is responsible for ensuring the
organization’s people are positioned for success through an
engaging culture, valuable tools and information, personal and
professional development, and meaningful rewards and recognition.
Debra has extensive experience helping organizations
elevate talent to maximize potential and drive business results.
Prior to Wedgewood Pharmacy, she worked at a publicly traded,
global, contingent-staffing firm with more than 1,500 full-time
employees, 20,000 contingent employees and $1 billion in revenue,
where she was vice president of HR. She also has held top HR
positions for Symphony Talent, a recruiting technology firm, Chubb
Group of Insurance companies, Campbell Soup, Kraft Foods, Shared
Medical Systems, and the U.S. Postal Service.
She holds a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of
Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. degree from Boston University’s Questrom
School of Business. In addition, she holds the senior professional
in HR certification from the Society for Human Resource Management.
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Barry Siegel, J.D. | Vice President and General Counsel
Barry Siegel, vice president and general counsel for Wedgewood
Pharmacy, has strategic and operational responsibility for the
legal and legislative-advocacy functions of the company. His
responsibilities include leading corporate strategic and tactical
legal initiatives, merger and acquisition transactions, providing
senior management with advice on a wide variety of matters,
negotiating agreements, managing outside counsel, and working
collaboratively with all company departments to support the needs
of the company.
Prior to Wedgewood Pharmacy, he served as senior vice president,
general counsel, and chief compliance officer of Pernix
Therapeutics, a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company.
He also was a partner at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, specializing
in mergers and acquisitions, securities, and general corporate
matters, serving primarily life-science companies.
He graduated magna cum laude from the University of
Massachusetts with a B.A. degree. He also holds a J.D. degree from
New York University School of Law.
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Stacy Baback | Vice President, Finance and Accounting
Stacy Baback, vice president, finance and accounting for
Wedgewood Pharmacy, has responsibility for leading all strategic
aspects of financial reporting and budgeting activities, financial
analysis, and general ledger accounting. She also maintains
effective relationships with investors, lenders, and all other
financial intermediaries.
Stacy began her career with Wedgewood Pharmacy in 2012 as the
controller. Over the years, she assumed positions of increasing
strategic responsibility for finance and accounting within the
company.
Prior to joining Wedgewood in 2012, she held various positions
at American Water/American Water Enterprises, including manager,
accounting & reporting; manager, financial planning & analysis; and
senior financial analyst. She also worked for Metrologic
Instruments as assistant controller and MBNA Bank as senior
financial analyst.
She holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Rutgers University and
an M.B.A. degree from Rowan University.
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Daniel Rowan | Chief Commercial Officer
Daniel Rowan, chief commercial officer for Wedgewood
Pharmacy, has full strategic and operational responsibility for
customer experience in all channels, including sales, marketing,
websites, preparation development, and customer service. As a
member of the Wedgewood Pharmacy leadership team, he is accountable
for all company performance measures and for directing resources to
maximize the customer experience of prescribers, patients and pet-,
and horse-, owners. Dan has been in sales and marketing since 1996.
Prior to joining Wedgewood in 2008, he was director of marketing
for Electric Mobility Corporation, The Rascal Scooter Company.
He holds a B.S.E. degree in Materials Science Engineering
from the University of Pennsylvania with a minor
in Mathematics. He currently is a founding member of the Creativity
CoLaboratory Charter School at Appel Farm.
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Anthony Grzib, R.Ph. | Acting Vice President, Quality and
Compliance, State-Regulated Pharmacies
Anthony Grzib, R.Ph., acting vice president, Quality and
Compliance, State-Regulated Pharmacies for Wedgewood Pharmacy,
reports to Joe Costa, president and chief operating officer. He
leads the quality control, quality assurance, and pharmacist
functions for the company's state-regulated pharmacies, working
closely with the executive leadership team to develop and execute
the corporate strategy, goals, and objectives. He oversees quality
systems and ensures overall compliance with current applicable
quality standards; leads development of a quality culture that
supports the company’s values of customer focus, integrity,
collaboration, and innovation, while meeting the needs of the
company’s stakeholders including regulators; and leads the
pharmacist organization, including the pharmacists-in-charge, to
ensure regulatory requirements and quality expectations are met.
Prior to joining Wedgewood in 2000, he was pharmacist-in-charge
and Team Leader for CVS Pharmacy and
for Eckerd Drugs. He began his career as a
pharmacy technician at Eckerd Drugs.
Anthony is a member of the Parenteral Drug Association and the
International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering.
He holds a B.S. degree in Pharmacy from the Rutgers University
College of Pharmacy.
He is a registered pharmacist in 11 states and has been in the
pharmacy profession since 1990.
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New Jersey Pharmacy Operations
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Bob Muentz | General Manager
Bob Muentz, general manager for Wedgewood Pharmacy’s New Jersey
operations, is responsible for operations in the Swedesboro, New
Jersey facility. These include sterile and non-sterile compounding,
packaging, dispensing, receiving, and facilities. He also has
supported significant technological changes to the compounding
areas of the site.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, Bob held leadership
positions in Good Manufacturing Practices and the Lean Six Sigma
disciplines. He has worked for PCI Pharma, Thermosafe, and Crayola.
He has started two large greenfield sites and led international
operations.
He holds a B.S. degree in Business Management from Muhlenberg
College and an A.S. degree in Polymer Science from Pennsylvania
State University. He earned a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma from
Villanova University.
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Alison Lynch, R.Ph. |
Pharmacist-in-Charge
Alison Lynch, pharmacist-in-charge for Wedgewood Pharmacy’s
Swedesboro operation, is responsible for establishing policies and
procedures, supervising professional and non-professional
employees, monitoring ongoing quality initiatives, and loss
prevention.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, she was
pharmacist-in-charge at Drugstore.com. Previously,
she was pharmacist-in-charge for Eckerd Drugs (Cherry Hill, NJ); and a pharmacy technician and pharmacist at
several Pathmark Pharmacies in New Jersey.
She holds a B.S. degree from Rutgers University College of Pharmacy and is a licensed pharmacist in 20 states.
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Arizona Pharmacy Operations
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Giano Panzarella, Pharm.D. | Vice President
and General Manager
Giano Panzarella, Pharm.D., vice president and general manager for
Wedgewood Pharmacy’s Scottsdale operations, is responsible for all
operations of the Arizona facility (formerly Diamondback Drugs),
leadership, and integration execution. Prior to the acquisition he
held the role of chief operations officer of Diamondback Drugs and
worked on facility, automation, and technology advents to scale the
business. He held the COO position for five years and through two
rounds of private-equity capital investment in the company.
Prior to joining Diamondback Drugs, he worked at The Scripps
Research Institute in the Neuropharmacology Research
Department.
He holds a B.S. degree from University of California, San Diego,
and a Pharm.D. degree from Western University of Health Sciences.
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Andrew Warther, Pharm.D. |
Pharmacist-in-Charge
Andrew Warther, pharmacist-in-charge for Wedgewood Pharmacy’s
Scottsdale operation, is responsible for establishing policies and
procedures, supervising professional and non-professional
employees, monitoring ongoing quality initiatives, and loss
prevention.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, Drew spent 10 years at
Walgreens in roles of increasing responsibility. He began his
career as a pharmacy intern, progressed to assistant store manager,
and then to pharmacist-in-charge.
He holds a B.S. degree and a Pharm.D. degree from The University
of South Carolina and is a licensed
pharmacist in ten states.
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Wedgewood Connect (San Jose, California)
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Craig Mastenbaum | General Manager
Craig Mastenbaum, general manager of Wedgewood Connect, a 503B
outsourcing facility, oversees all aspects of this manufacturing
site, located in San Jose, California. These include P&L
accountability, establishing strategic plans, creating
capital and expense budgets, ensuring the consistent supply of
products, including product launches, quality, compliance with
California OSHA safety requirements, compliance with FDA guidelines
for Current Good Manufacturing Practices, and all aspects of
regulatory inspections by government agencies. He brings more
than 35 years of cGMP drug-manufacturing experience to Wedgewood
Pharmacy..
Prior to Wedgewood Connect, he was vice president and general
manager of Leiters Pharmacy; senior director
of external manufacturing for Impax Laboratories; director
of business development for Oso BioPharmaceuticals; senior director
of clinical and contract manufacturing
for Dendreon Corporation;director of manufacturing and then vice
president of manufacturing and business development for
Hollister-Stier Laboratories; director of parenteral operations for
Chiron Corporation; manager ofmanufacturing for Alpha Therapeutic
Corporation; and held supervisory roles with Elkins-Sinn,
Incorporated and Wyeth/Ayerst Laboratories.
He holds a B.A. degree in Microbiology from Rutgers University
and an M.B.A. degree from Gonzaga University.
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Paul K. Yamamoto, R.Ph. | Vice President Pharmacy Services and
Pharmacist-in-Charge
Paul Yamamoto, R.Ph., vice president pharmacy services and
pharmacist-in-charge of Wedgewood Connect, a 503B outsourcing
facility, is responsible for pharmacy operations including
production, quality, regulatory compliance, surveys, and
accreditations. He also ensures compliance with Federal and state
compounding regulations, current Good Manufacturing Practices, and
USP standards. He represents the company in all audits and
inspections by boards of pharmacy and FDA, including managing
inquiries, correspondence, and appearances.
Prior to Wedgewood Connect, he was pharmacy manager, vice
president of shared services and then vice president
of pharmacy services for Leiters Pharmacy. Before that, he spent
more than 15 years with Walgreens Company, starting as an intern
and rising through pharmacy management to store management. He also
served as team leader of a group that set-up and opened new
pharmacy locations. He has specialized expertise in hospital and
geriatric pharmacy-practices.
He holds a B.S. degree in Pharmacy, magna cum laude, from the
University of Washington. He is a licensed pharmacist in 17 states.
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Wildlife Pharmaceuticals and ZooPharm
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George Carballo | General Manager
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George Carballo is general manager of Wildlife Pharmaceuticals.
He is responsible for the Wildlife Pharmaceuticals and ZooPharm
business including developing the team, coordinating resources with
Wedgewood Pharmacy, building and expanding customer relationships,
and spurring research and new formulation development. He
joined Wedgewood Pharmacy in October 2018 as the regional sales
manager for the Eastern Region.
Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, he spent 16 years at Henry
Schein Animal Health as a territory manager and then regional
manager. His first experience in the animal-health arena was with
Fort Dodge Animal Health where he was a territory manager. He began
his career in account management and sales in the health insurance
industry.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Rutgers
University.
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Our Founding Story
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George J. Malmberg, R.Ph., F.A.C.A., F.A.C.V.P and Lucy
Malmberg, B.Sc. in Pharm., Hon. D.Sc., R.Ph., F.A.C.A., F.A.C.V.P.,
both pharmacists, bought Wedgewood Village Pharmacy, a local
community pharmacy in a New Jersey strip mall, in 1981. By the time
of George’s passing following a brief illness in April 2013, George
and Lucy had transformed it to become one of the largest
compounding pharmacies in the United States. Today, Wedgewood
Pharmacy is the leading compounding pharmacy brand in animal
health, recognized by 99% of veterinarians, and used by 8 in 10
veterinarians within the past year. The company serves tens of
thousands of prescribers and hundreds of thousands of human and
animal patients throughout the U.S. every year.
George and Lucy became icons in the compounding pharmacy
profession, friends, and beloved mentors to many who lead and will
lead the industry. They are known as passionate advocates for the
rights of prescribers and pharmacists to develop customized
medicines for people and animals. They were always generous with
their time, money, and talents, frequently leading efforts to
defend the legal rights of compounding pharmacists and patients who
need access to personalized medications.
In 2002, they formed and led the coalition that argued
successfully before the Supreme Court that The Food and Drug
Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA), which prohibited pharmacists
from advertising or promoting compounded drugs, was a violation of
their First Amendment rights. In 2005, they were instrumental in
forming the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists'
(IACP) public affairs task force, which created an advocacy program
centered around Patients and Professionals for Customized Care
(P2C2), a Web site that provided tools for compounding pharmacy
advocates to influence public policy. In 2007 a coalition led by
the group prevented Federal legislation, which would have severely
restricted access to compounded medications, from being introduced
in Congress. Both were frequently seen on The Hill in Washington
DC, protecting the rights of prescribers and patients to access
compounded medications freely.
In 2016, Lucy sold her majority ownership of the company to New
Harbor Capital and took the role of Chairman of the Board. With her
in that role, in 2018, the company acquired Diamondback Drugs. In
2020, the company purchased and began production at Wedgewood
Connect, an FDA-registered 503B Outsourcing Facility, in San Jose,
California. In the same year, the company acquired Wildlife
Pharmaceuticals and ZooPharm,
in Colorado and Wyoming, respectively.
In April 2021, the company was sold to
Partners Group.
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