PHILADELPHIA — Timothy Crew, former chief executive officer of Cipla North America, is joining Lannett Co. as CEO.

Plans call for Crew to take the CEO reins at effective Jan. 2, Lannett said. He also is slated to be appointed as a board director after the company’s 2018 annual shareholders meeting.

Crew succeeds Arthur Bedrosian, who is stepping down as CEO but will continue to serve in the role until Crew joins the company.

“I am honored to lead Lannett, an American company with a long and distinguished history in the generic drug industry,” Crew said in a statement. “Lannett has a strong base business, a deep and valuable pipeline, and a stellar reputation for quality, innovation and productive partner and customer relationships.  I am enthusiastic and energized about the opportunities ahead and look forward to working with the board, management team and our employees to continue strengthening and expanding our business, increasing sales and driving operational efficiencies.”

Crew brings more than 25 years of experience in the generic and branded drug industries to Lannett. He served as CEO of Cipla North America from 2013 to 2017. Before joining Cipla, he worked for eight years at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he served as senior vice president and commercial operating officer of the North American Generics division and, prior to that, as vice president of alliances and business development.

From 2001 to 2004, Crew was executive vice president for North America at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. He started his career in the pharmaceutical sector at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where during a 12-year tenure he held senior management positions in global marketing, managed health care, marketing, business development and strategic planning.

“After a thorough and comprehensive search process, we are thrilled and excited to welcome Tim as our CEO,” Lannett chairman Jeffrey Farber stated. “Tim has served in a variety of senior leadership roles with some of the largest, most-recognized and well-respected companies in the pharmaceutical industry. He is an experienced operations executive, with a proven background driving growth, developing new markets and successfully launching both proprietary and generic products. Tim is ideally suited to lead Lannett into its next phase of growth and profitability.”

Lannett had announced Bedrosian’s departure in September and hired an executive search firm to help find a successor. He has served as CEO since 2006.

“On behalf of the board, I thank Arthur for his exceptional leadership and dedicated service to Lannett,” Farber commented. “As CEO over the last 11 years, he spearheaded the company’s significant growth, diversified its business, established strategic alliances and built an enviable product development program. Through his efforts, Lannett is now an industry leader.”