Lupin hires Jim Loerop to drive global M&A strategy

India's second largest drug maker Lupin on Monday named Jim Loerop as Chief Corporate Development Officer.

Loerop will lead Lupin's overall corporate development efforts and will be responsible for the company's global mergers and acquisitions and business development functions, Lupin said in a statement.

A seasoned professional with over 27 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Loerop joins Lupin from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development.

Prior to Alexion, he held multiple leadership positions at leading pharmaceutical companies such as GSK, KV Pharmaceutical and Curatek Pharmaceuticals.

"We are delighted to welcome Jim at a crucial time as we accelerate our transition into complex generics and specialty brand segments," said Vinita Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of Lupin.

"Jim's rich experience in both branded and generics business will be invaluable in helping us navigate our business towards next growth opportunities," Gupta added.

Loerop will be based at Naples Florida in the US, and will report to Vinita Gupta.

Lupin has been looking for licensing and acquisitions of specialty brands, complex generics and biosmilars as it plans to scale up its business.

The company's largest acquisition came in July 2015 when it bought New Jersey-based generic drugs firm Gavis for USD 880 million.