Fred Hassan (born November 12, 1945), is a Pakistan-born American business executive who works for

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has over ...

and was CEO of three global pharmaceutical companies.

Early life

Hassan was born in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

, a

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

city now in

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

. He is the son of Syed Fida Hassan, a Pakistani statesman who also served as Pakistan's ambassador to India. His mother was Zeenat Hassan, a women's rights advocate. In 1967, Hassan graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. After working in the fertilizer industry with an affiliate of the Delaware-based company Hercules Inc., he enrolled at Harvard and obtained an MBA in 1972. He married Noreen Shah in 1969. They have three children and three grandchildren.

Career

1972–1989

Hassan was hired by

Sandoz Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...

, an R+D-based global pharmaceutical company (which later became Novartis, after merging with Ciba-Geigy in 1996), while he was still finishing his MBA at Harvard. Eleven years later, he was asked to turn around the largest operating unit,

US. During the 80s, Sandoz pioneered its move into immunology, starting first with transplantation (cyclosporine) and later with innovations in cancer. In 1989, he was recruited by

American Home Products Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth i ...

(AHP)to run their pharmaceutical operation out of Radnor, Pennsylvania.

1989–1997

Hassan played an important role in helping transform AHP, later renamed

Wyeth Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

(WYE) from a multi-industry conglomerate to a focused, research and development-driven, health care company incorporating, consumer health care, veterinary, medical devices, and with the Wyeth global pharmaceutical business at its core. In 1991, Hassan company hired Robert Levy, formerly head of the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, to lead its research and development team. Wyeth (WYE), entered into the biotechnology field by buying Genetics Institute in 1991. The company also acquired A.H. Robins in 1989 and American Cyanamid in 1994 to strengthen its global operations. Important innovations (individual blockbuster products with annual sales of over a billion dollars) including

Effexor Venlafaxine, sold under the brand name Effexor among others, is an antidepressant medication of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic di ...

(anti-depressant), Protonix (a proton pump inhibitor for heartburn), Prevnar (a vaccine to prevent ear infections), and

Enbrel Etanercept, sold under the brand name Enbrel among others, is a biologic medical product that is used to treat autoimmune diseases by interfering with tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a soluble inflammatory cytokine, by acting as a TNF inhibitor. It ...

an anti-inflammatory, and the first powerful biotech to help with joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, came out of these strengthened operations. In 1997, Hassan was asked to take over as CEO of the then failing merger of Pharmacia & Upjohn (PNU).

1997–2000

As CEO of Pharmacia and Upjohn (PNU), Hassan made many changes, including moving its headquarters from the UK to New Jersey. The New York Times called this the "''Fred Factor: investors' belief that the man who masterminded American Home Products' ascension can do an encore''." Fifteen months after Hassan took charge, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled "''Turnaround becomes a reality at Pharmacia and Upjohn''". PNU acquired the pre-revenue cancer company Sugen in 1999 for $650 million, which subsequently yielded Sutent, a billion dollar product. In 2000, PNU completed a mega-merger with Monsanto (MON) to become Pharmacia (PHA). In the three years leading to Hassan's next CEO assignment, as head of PHA, PNU's stock value had morphed from $15 billion to $52 billion.

2000–2003

As CEO, and later as chairman and CEO of Pharmacia (PHA), Hassan oversaw the establishment of Celebrex as a large product for pain and inflammation, and the carve-out, followed by a successful initial public offering of the agricultural business under the name "

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

" (MON). Monsanto (MON) saw major value expansion and was subsequently acquired by Bayer for $62.5 billion. In July 2002,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

approached PHA with a 44 percent premium and a $62 billion merger was announced. Shortly after the merger closed in April 2003, Hassan took over as chairman and CEO of

Schering Plough Schering-Plough Corporation was an American pharmaceutical company. It was originally the U.S. subsidiary of the German company Schering AG, which was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering. As a result of nationalization, it beca ...

(SGP), then a struggling pharmaceutical company.

2003–2009

As chairman and CEO of Schering Plough (SGP), Hassan oversaw the resolution of multiple legacy legal, regulatory, research and development and operational challenges and was able to declare a company turnaround by 2005. Products, including Nasonex (allergies),

Remicade Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody, sold under the brand name Remicade among others, is a medication used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases. This includes Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spon ...

(inflammation), Temodar (brain cancer), OT
Claritin
(allergies), OTC Miralax (laxative), grew strongly in the marketplace. In 2007, Schering Plough acquired

Organon The ''Organon'' ( grc, Ὄργανον, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name ''Organon'' was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics. The six ...

, a Dutch company and successful innovations came from Organon's research and development, including Keytruda (cancer), Implanon (long acting contraception) and Bridion (faster recovery from anesthesia). Keytruda,the product from Organon R&D, and acquired by Schering Plough, is expected to become the largest pharmaceutical product in the world by 2024 at an annualized level of $24 billion in sales. In late 2009,

merged with Merck & Co (MRK), and Hassan left for Warburg Pincus (WP), a private equity company in New York City. "''During Fred's tenure of six and a half years, Schering Plough's stock rose 62 percent, versus a drop of 21 percent for the unweighted basket of six peers''."

2009–present

Hassan has played varying roles at Warburg Pincus, including as a Partner and Managing Director. He served as chairman of Bausch and Lomb until its sale to Valeant in August 2013. Hassan served as board member of Time Warner from 2009 until its sale to AT&T in June 2018. As of June 2019, he was a board member of Amgen(AMGN) (biotech), Intrexon(XON) now Precigen(PGEN) (synthetic biology), Modernizing Medicine (Electronic Medical Records), and as of August 31, 2021, was also board member o
BridgeBio
and chairman of

Theramex Theramex is a pharmaceutical company based in London which produces women's health products focusing on contraception, fertility, menopause and osteoporosis. It was established in 2018 with the acquisition of some of the assets of Teva Active Ph ...

(a global women's health company, headquartered in London, UK). Hassan has been chairman o
Caret Group
of companies under the umbrella headline “''Powered by nature... perfected by science''™ .” The 4 marketed non-prescription products are ''IBgard''® (for IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)), ''FDgard''® (for Functional Dyspepsia (Recurring Indigestion)), ''Fiber Choice''® (daily prebiotic chewable fiber) and ''REMfresh''® (advanced non-drug formulation for 7 hour sleep support)). All products are carried by thousands retail stores and are also available online. All four brands were acquired by Nestle Health Science on September 1, 2020.

Achievements

In 1997, Hassan founde
Community Hope
ref name="communityhope-nj1"> which helps challenged individuals, especially veterans, to overcome or manage mental health issues and, where possible, lead a purposeful and stable life. As of 2021, 17 million dollars had been raised to further the organization's goals. As chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) (from 2002 to 2003) and president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Associations (IFPMA) (from 2006 to 2009), Hassan led initiatives on voluntary guidelines for promotional practices and for fuller disclosure of clinical trials. In 2003, Hassan participated in work leading to the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D). He worked inside the PhRMA board to start patient assistance programs, and in New Jersey, received appreciation from the Health Care Institute of New Jersey for expediting Rx4NJ in 2006. He was one of PhRMA's top team members who worked on the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

in 2009. In 2008, he was asked to be on the "CEO of the Year" Selection Committee by the CEO Group and remains a member. In 2012, Hassan was the founding participant of RDL (Research & Development Leadership) summit as an ongoing annual forum for Life Sciences R&D leaders, CEOs, and industry specialists, to gather and discuss R&D productivity, innovations and access to medicines. In 2012 Hassan co-founded "The CEO Forum" with Accenture. In this annual forum, Life Sciences CEOs come together and discuss management strategies. These CEOs typically include those from the highest market capitalization companies in Global Pharmas, Insurance, Global Med Tech, Global online and retail operators, Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations, and Consumer Health Care Companies. Companies whose leaders have attended these include Bayer Pharma, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cigna Espress Scripts, CVS Caremark Aetna, Lilly, Merck, Nestle Health Science, Novartis, Pfizer, United Health, and Walgreens Alliance Boots. Since 1987, Hassan has been frequently sought by media companies to comment on various events on TV and on other platforms. In 2020, he appeared 9 times on TV in this regard. In July 2021, Hassan was asked by his alma mater Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine to do a keynote at the end of its course for entrepreneurs representing multiple countries.

Awards

* CEO of the Year award, ''Financial Times'' (1999) * 50 Best CEO's, ''Worth'' (1999) * America's Best CEO's, ''Institutional Investor Magazine'' (2008) * CEO of the Year, ''Scrip'' (2009) * Most profound impact on the world of business in the previous quarter century, ''CNBC'' panel (2014) * Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Ellerin Award (2015) * "Entrepreneur of the Year" (Florida) (2019)

Articles

Book: * 2013 – "Reinvent, A Leaders Playbook for Serial Success" Articles in ''Harvard Business Review'': * 2003 – "In Search of Global Leaders" * 2006 – "Leading Change from the Topline" * 2011 – "The Frontline Advantage"

Philanthropy

Fred Hassan Orangerie – Farleigh Dickenson University, New Jersey: 2014 Newark Academy Sports Center; New Jersey:2003

Patents

Being an innovation oriented business leader, Fred Hassan has an extensive record of patents. The USPTO lists these patents (already granted as well as pending).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Fred Alumni of Imperial College London American health care chief executives Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Harvard Business School alumni Living people Schering-Plough 1945 births Pakistani emigrants to the United States American people of Pakistani descent