DURHAM -- Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Durham on Friday named Adrian Adams president and chief executive officer effective Monday.
He replaces Christy Shaffer, president and CEO since 1999. Shaffer will remain a consultant with the company
Adams, 59, most recently was president and CEO of Sepracor Inc. and -- before that -- Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc. Both companies were purchased in multi-billion dollar deals while he was at the helm.
Adams said, "I am delighted to be joining Inspire at such an exciting and pivotal stage of its corporate development and feel privileged to be given the opportunity to continue to build the company from the excellent platform that has been created by Christy Shaffer and her focused and talented employee base. I believe that Inspire has tremendous potential and I look forward to working with the board as it moves towards achieving its goal of taking the company through profitability and creating success and sustainable shareholder value."
"Adams has more than 30 years of experience in both specialty and large pharmaceutical organizations that, in addition to Kos and Sepracor, included careers with ICI, SmithKline Beecham and Novartis," Inspire said in a statement. "He has a broad background encompassing research and development, sales, international and national product marketing, business development and extensive general management experience."
Inspire is a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching, developing and commercializing prescription pharmaceutical products for ophthalmic and pulmonary diseases.
