Contract drug manufacturer Patheon names former BCRX executive new CFO

Contract drug manufacturer Patheon (TSX:PTI) has a new chief financial officer, one who is no stranger to North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

Stuart Grant was named executive vice president, CFO by the Research Triangle Park-based company. Grant has held finance positions at several public companies, most recently serving as CFO at Durham-based BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX). Grant left BioCryst last year. At Patheon, Grant succeeds former CFO Eric Evans who left last month to take a position with pharmaceutical services firm AAIPharma.

Grant comes to Patheon as the company adjusts its business strategy. Last year, the company announced a new corporate strategy that would evaluate its global footprint and cut costs. Those changes included closing some facilities. Meanwhile, Patheon is putting additional emphasis on its pharmaceutical development services business, or PDS. Contract drug manufacturing has been Patheon’s bread and butter bringing in the vast majority of the company’s $700 million in annual revenue. But Patheon has said that PDS, which manufactures for pharma companies drugs that are still in research and development, is a growth opportunity for the company.

In other changes at the company, Patheon announced that board Chairman Ramsey Frank resigned effective Feb. 13. Nicholas O’Leary of JLL Partners has been appointed to fill Frank’s vacated seat.