Management

Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D.

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Fred Eshelman is Chairman of The Medicines Company (MDCO), and is the founder of Eshelman Ventures LLC, an investment company primarily interested in private healthcare companies. Previously he founded and served as CEO and Executive Chairman of Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI, NASDAQ) prior to the sale of the company to private equity interests. After PPD he served as Founding Chairman and largest shareholder of Furiex Pharmaceuticals (FURX, NASDAQ), a company which licensed and rapidly developed new medicines. Furiex was sold to Forest Labs/Actavis in July, 2014. His career has also included positions as senior vice president (development) and board member of the former Glaxo, Inc., as well as various management positions with Beecham Laboratories and Boehringer Mannheim Pharmaceuticals.

Eshelman has served on the executive committee of the Medical Foundation of North Carolina was appointed by the NC General Assembly to serve on the Board of Governors for the state`s multi campus university system (Chair of Audit Committee) as well as the NC Biotechnology Center. In addition he chairs the board of visitors for the School of Pharmacy at UNC-CH. One of the top pharmacy programs in the United States, in May 2008 the school was named the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in recognition of his many contributions to the school and the profession. Recently US News and World Report named the school Number 1 in the US.

He has received many awards including the Davie and Distinguished Service Awards from UNC, Outstanding Alumnus from both the UNC and University of Cincinnati schools of pharmacy, Life Science Leadership Award (CED) and the NC Business Hall of Fame. Eshelman received the doctor of pharmacy from the University of Cincinnati, completed a residency at Cincinnati General Hospital and a BS in pharmacy from UNC-CH. He is a graduate of the OPM program at Harvard Business School.