LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Akorn Inc. has announced four appointments to its management team, including a new sales and marketing leader.

The specialty generic pharmaceutical company said Monday that Jonathan Kafer has been hired as executive vice president of sales and marketing, a newly created position. In the role, he will oversee all commercial functions for Akorn’s business units, as well as play an integral role in strategic market and product portfolio considerations.

Kafer joins Akorn from Allergan Inc., where he served as vice president of account management and had responsibility for all trade activity in Allergan’s wholesale, retail specialty pharmacy, e-solutions and managed market channels for all of the company’s business units. Before Allergan, he was vice president of sales and marketing for health systems at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Steve Lichter has been appointed executive vice president of pharmaceutical operations at Akorn. In the newly created role, he will oversee Akorn’s global supply chain and plant operations. Lichter comes to Akorn from Abbott Laboratories, where he served in various leadership roles over 32 years, most recently as corporate vice president of operations for Abbott’s Established Pharmaceutical Division in Switzerland.

Named to another newly created position at Akorn was Jaspreet Gill, who serves as executive vice president of global quality compliance. Previously vice president of corporate quality at Baxter, Gill will be responsible for global regulatory compliance for all Akorn manufacturing sites as well as for members of Akorn’s supply chain.

In addition, Randall Pollard was appointed vice president and corporate controller. He comes to Akorn from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently served as the head of accounting and reporting for Sandoz, Novartis’ generic drug division.

“It is an honor to welcome Jon, Randy, Steve and Jaspreet to the Akorn team,” stated Raj Rai, chief executive officer of Akorn. “These four experienced and well-qualified executives bring skills and expertise that will further strengthen our leadership team and prepare Akorn for future growth opportunities.”