Hikma Pharmaceuticals appoints new chief executive

Riad Mishlawi, head of the company's injectables business, will take on the new role in September

The Hikma Pharmaceuticals laboratory in Amman. The company operates in more than 50 countries and employs about 8,700 people. Salah Malkawi / The National

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, a UK-listed company with operations in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the US, has appointed Riad Mishlawi as its chief executive.

Mr Mishlawi, currently president of Hikma's injectables business, will assume his new role and join the company's board of directors on September 1, the company said on Wednesday.

He will replace Said Darwazah, who will step down as acting chief executive and return to his role as executive chairman.

Mr Mishlawi will receive a base salary of $1 million, a pension contribution of 10 per cent of salary, in line with the wider workforce, and relocation support, the company said.

He will also be eligible to receive an annual bonus and longer-term incentive awards.

Mr Mishlawi has “a strong track record of delivering profitable growth and strategic expansion”, Hikma said.

“I am confident that as we continue to innovate and grow together we can create a positive impact in our industry,” Mr Mishlawi said.

Hikma, which means “wisdom” in Arabic, was founded in Jordan in 1978 and supplies various generic drugs including anaesthetics, pain medications, sedatives, neuromuscular blocking agents and anti-infectives.

Founded by Samih Darwazah, a scion of a Palestinian family who was born to a tea merchant in Nablus, it currently operates in more than 50 countries and employs about 8,700 people.

In 1991, it entered the US market through the acquisition of West-Ward Pharmaceuticals and in 1996, it became the first Arab company to receive the Federal Drug Administration approval.

By the late 1990s, the company expanded to Europe, Mena and North America.

Hikma went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2005.

It has forged partnerships to boost its profile, and in 2013, bought the Egyptian Company for Pharmaceuticals & Chemical Industries.

It also signed licensing agreements with China's Junshi Biosciences in December and South Korea's Celltrion Healthcare in January for cancer-treatment drugs focused on the Mena region.

In April 2022, the company completed the acquisition of California-based Custopharm in a deal valued at $425 million, as part of plans to boost its injectables business in the US.

In February, the company reported a 55 per cent annual drop in its 2022 profit, which it attributed to “competitive pressures” in its generics business.

Profit attributable to shareholders of the company in the 12 months to the end of December declined to $188 million, from $421 million in 2021, Hikma said in a filing to the LSE.

Revenue for the year was marginally down 1 per cent to $2.5 billion, while operating profit slid 52 per cent to $282 million.

Hikma's diversified business model — which comprises injectables, branded and generics — enabled its core underlying business to deliver a “resilient performance” in 2022, Mr Darwazah said at the time.

Mr Mishlawi has been president of injectables since 2011 and has since helped the business deliver a compound annual growth rate of 12 per cent, Hikma said.

He also led its expansion through organic growth, acquisitions and commercial partnerships.

“I am confident that under his leadership, Hikma will continue to deliver long-term growth and value for all our stakeholders,” Mr Darwazah said.