NorthStar Medical Technologies said Monday it has promoted President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Merrick into the company’s top position as president and chief executive officer.
Merrick succeeds George Messina, founder of the Beloit, Wis.-based medical radioisotope manufacturer. Messina is taking the role of chairman emeritus and president and CEO of NorthStar Nuclear Therapies, a wholly owned subsidiary aimed at developing medical isotopes for therapeutic uses, according to a company press release.
“NorthStar is at a transformative point in its evolution from a development stage company to being the first domestic supplier of Mo-99, and we are excited that Steve has agreed to become NorthStar’s President and CEO,” Diane Hendricks, chair of the Board of Managers for both companies, said in the release. “This Company is strongly positioned for rapid growth in the U.S. market, and there are attractive opportunities for NorthStar to grow outside the United States as well. … The Board of Managers believes that this organizational realignment allows NorthStar to capitalize on both George and Steve’s strengths.”
Merrick joined NorthStar in March 2016 as chief operating officer. He previously had served in executive roles at pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mallinckrodt, Baxter Healthcare, and Eli Lilly.
NorthStar is the manufacturer of the RadioGenix System, a generator for the medical isotope technetium-99m that is being readied for commercial launch after receiving key approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this year.
