Avanir Pharma Names Rohan Palekar As President And CEO, Succeeding Katkin

(RTTNews) - Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVNR) said it has appointed Rohan Palekar as its president and chief executive officer. He replaces Keith Katkin, who has served as president and CEO since March 2007 and will transition to the board of directors for Avanir.

Palekar joined Avanir in March 2012 as senior vice president and chief commercial officer. He was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer in March 2015.

Palekar has more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in drug development and commercialization. In his prior position as EVP and chief operating officer for Avanir, he led the commercial, finance and IT, legal affairs, human resources, business development and corporate communications functions.

Prior to joining Avanir, Palekar was chief commercial officer for Medivation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs in oncology and neuroscience.