AMPHASTAR - Key Persons

Bill Peters - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Peters joined Amphastar as Chief Financial Officer in April 2014, just prior to the Company's IPO. He was previously CFO of Hi-Tech Pharmacal from June 2004 through April 2014. Prior to Hi-Tech, he worked for Merck & Co., Inc, where, for over seven years, he held several positions of increasing responsibility. Mr. Peters began his career at GE in their Financial Management Program. Mr. Peters earned his Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bucknell University.

Dan Dischner

Job Titles:
  • VP of Corporate Communications

Diane G. Gerst

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Governance Committee
Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee Diane G. Gerst was the Company's Executive Vice President of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs until February 2018 and served as the President of Amphastar Nanjing Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the Company's subsidiaries, from March 2014 until February 2018. From August 2013 to June 2015, Ms. Gerst served as the Company's Corporate Senior Vice President of Quality Assurance. Ms. Gerst served as Corporate Vice President of Quality Assurance from August 2003 until her promotion to Senior Vice President in August 2013. Previously, she was the Company's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs from June 2001 to July 2002. Before joining the Company, Ms. Gerst held various management-level positions in regulatory and quality, including eight years at Braun-McGaw and seven years at IMS. Ms. Gerst received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Gerst achieved the National Association of Corporate Directors Directorship Certification (NACD.DC) in November 2021.

Dr. Jack Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Chief Scientific Officer
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Director / Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Director
Dr. Jack Zhang, Ph.D., co-founded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in 1996 and has served as Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Board of Directors of Amphastar for over 20 years. With 40 years of leading industry expertise in Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies both domestically and internationally, Dr. Zhang has been the facilitator and builder of world-class technology management and product development teams. Dr. Zhang has a successful track record in leading the Amphastar team, receiving numerous FDA approvals of important and Block Buster medications in both start-ups and scaled growth stages. As the Company's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Zhang oversees the scientific research and technology operations. Dr. Zhang also advises new process development and process scale-ups. Further, he provides scientific and regulatory guidance when the Company makes strategic decisions. Dr. Zhang received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and was a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Mary Luo

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Chief Operating Officer, Chief Scientist, and Chairwoman of the Board of Director / Chief Operating Officer, Chief Scientist, and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors
Dr. Mary Luo co-founded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in 1996 and is Chief Operations Officer, Chief Scientist, and Chairwoman of the Corporate Board of Directors. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Luo is primarily in charge of intellectual property development, including Company patent affairs and publications. Dr. Luo is in charge of the Company training program and oversees Technical / QA education and advancement. Dr. Luo often conducts special investigational research projects to help improve production processes and product qualities. Dr. Luo has been the leader of several successful corporate funding series while building value-added relationships in advancing the image of Amphastar. Dr. Luo received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University and was a post-doctoral research associate at the California Institute of Technology. She was a tenured professor of Chemistry for 17 years.

Floyd F. Petersen

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Compensation Committee
  • Member of the Governance Committee
  • Director / Member of the Compensation Committee
Floyd F. Petersen, M.P.H. has been an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Loma Linda University Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing. From 1990 to 2010, he served as Director of the Loma Linda University Health Research Consulting Group, which consults on health research study design and data analysis. Mr. Petersen was a member of the Loma Linda, California City Council from 1990 to 2010 and served as the Mayor of Loma Linda from 1996 to 2006. He has personally consulted on over 700 health-related research projects. As a visiting professor, he has taught/consulted in health research in Chad, Romania, PR China, Thailand, Cambodia, PDR Lao, Kenya, Indonesia, Guam, and Russia. Mr. Petersen is currently the vice-chair and a board member of Vtrans. This non-profit, quasi-governmental agency coordinates all public transportation for the elderly and handicapped in the Inland Empire of Southern California. He earned his M.P.H. in Public Health from Loma Linda University with concentrations in Biostatistics and Health Administration.

Gayle M. Deflin

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Governance Committee
  • Chief Financial Officer of LBMB, Inc
  • Director / Chair of the Audit Committee
Gayle Deflin has been the Chief Financial Officer of LBMB, Inc., since 2014, and its subsidiaries Plasticolor Molded Products, Inc. and Chroma Graphics, Inc., both of which are automotive accessory manufacturers and distributors, since 2006. Before 2006, Ms. Deflin was at Apria Healthcare, a provider of home respiratory services, from 2004 to 2006 as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Budgeting and Vice President of Billing Center Operations. From 2003 to 2004, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ionian Technologies, a diagnostic start-up with biotechnology developed at the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. Ms. Deflin worked in various positions at International Medication Systems Limited, including as its President, from 1989 until it was sold to Amphastar in 1998, and continued with Celltech Pharmaceuticals, the former owner of International Medication Systems, Limited, as President of MD Pharmaceuticals from 1996 to 2002 and Senior Vice President, Business Support Services of Celltech Pharmaceuticals from 2000 to 2002. Ms. Deflin holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Accounting and MIS) from Bowling Green State University and an M.B.A from the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Howard Lee

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Governance Committee
  • Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee Howard Lee, Ph.D., has 30 years of experience in investment banking, global healthcare venture capital, and project management. Dr. Lee is currently the Chairman of TAHO Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Taiwan, a drug development company with a trans-epithelial technology platform. Dr. Lee was the General Partner of the CID Group, a prominent investment group in the greater China area. Before joining CID, Dr. Lee was the Managing Director at Silver Biotech Management, Inc. for five years. Dr. Lee served as President and CEO of CDIB Biotech USA Investment Co. Ltd. He was the Vice President of China Development Industrial Bank, a prestigious investment bank in Taiwan. Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California and completed his postdoctoral research at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute of USC.

Jacob Liawatidewi - EVP, Secretary

Job Titles:
  • Corporate Secretary
  • Executive Vice President
  • Member of the Board
  • Member of the Board of Directors
Jacob Liawatidewi, BSc in Biology, MBA, Executive JD, is currently Executive Vice President of Corporate Administration Center, member of the Board of the Directors, and Corporate Secretary. Since joining the company in 1997, Mr. Liawatidewi has held various roles in Amphastar's business development, sales, and marketing. He was appointed as Company Secretary, effective June 2013. Since 2020, Mr. Liawatidewi has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Administration Center. Mr. Liawatidewi is President of Amphastar France Pharmaceuticals.

Michael A. Zasloff

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Compensation Committee
  • Member of the Governance Committee
  • Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Director / Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee Michael A. Zasloff, M.D., Ph.D. has served as a member of our Board of Directors since October 2005 and previously served as our lead independent director from January 2016 to April 2019. Dr. Zasloff has been the Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine since 2002, and currently serves as Scientific Director of the MedStar - Georgetown Transplant Institute. In 2016 Dr. Zasloff founded Enterin, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, where he serves as Director and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Zasloff served as the Dean of Research and Translational Science from 2002 until 2004. Between 2004 and 2007, Dr. Zasloff served as Vice President and Senior Analyst (Life Sciences) at Ferris, Baker Watts, Inc., or FBW. From 1992 to 2001 Dr. Zasloff served as Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of Magainin Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company which he founded. From 1988 until 1992, Dr. Zasloff served as the Charles E.H. Upham Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Chief, Division of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. From 1982 until 1988, Dr. Zasloff was Chief of the Human Genetics Branch at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Zasloff received a B.A. from Columbia College in biochemistry and holds an M.D., Ph.D. from the New York University School of Medicine.

Richard Prins

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Compensation Committee
  • Lead Independent Director
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Member of the Governance Committee
Chair of the Compensation Committee Member of the Audit Committee Richard Prins began his career in 1983 as the Assistant to the Chairman of the leverage buyout company, Tuscarora Corp. He has 26 years of experience in all aspects of corporate finance. He has participated directly in more than 150 transactions with private and public companies across several industries in North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Prins was the Director of Investment Banking for Ferris, Baker Watts, Inc. ("FBW") from 1996 until June 2008, when Royal Bank of Canada acquired FBW. At FBW, he managed all of the firm's industry groups and product offerings including public offerings, mergers, and acquisitions, private placements, restructurings, as well as other corporate advisory services activities. He was also responsible for executing a variety of financial and strategic transactions. Mr. Prins served as a consultant to Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets through December 2008 to facilitate the post-acquisition transition. Prior to FBW, he was a Managing Director for eight years at Crestar Bank (now SunTrust Bank), in charge of Mergers and Acquisitions. Mr. Prins is a private investor and is involved in various charitable organizations. Also, he currently volunteers as acting head of US Operations for Advancing Native Missions and on the boards of directors of India Globalization Capital and Hilbert Technology. Mr. Prins received a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Colgate University and an M.B.A. from Oral Roberts University.