Leadership at Avadel Pharmaceuticals
Our management team is key to the success of our company. We are lead by a diverse team of experts in their respective fields, each of whom help to ensure the success of our business and ultimately the well-being of patients.
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Gregory J. Divis, CEO
Gregory J. Divis was named Chief Executive Officer in June of 2019, after having served as Chief Operating Officer (named in March 2018) and Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer (named in January 2017).
Prior to joining Avadel, he served as an Executive in Residence at Linden Capital Partners, a healthcare-focused private equity firm. With over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Divis served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lumara Health, a specialty branded pharmaceutical company focused on women’s health. Prior to Lumara, Mr. Divis held general management, sales, marketing and business development roles at Schering Plough and Sanofi-Aventis. -
Thomas S. McHugh, Chief Financial Officer
Thomas McHugh was appointed Chief Financial Officer in December 2019. Prior to joining Avadel, Mr. McHugh served as Senior Vice President of Finance of Ironshore Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he built and led the U.S. Finance, Accounting and Treasury functions and supported Ironshore’s new product launch. Prior to his time at Ironshore, McHugh was the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at Lumara Health, a specialty pharmaceutical company that focused on maternal fetal medicine and obstetrics/gynecology. While at Lumara he supported a number of key strategic initiatives, including a new product launch, a restructuring and a sale of the company. Prior to joining Lumara, Tom was a Managing Director and Global Controller at BearingPoint, a global consultancy. Before joining BearingPoint, he was the Chief Financial Officer at Huttig Building Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: HBP). Tom began his career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Tom earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Bentley University and a master’s degree in accounting from Northeastern University.
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Dr. Jason M. Vaughn, SVP, Technical Operations
Dr. Jason Vaughn was appointed Senior Vice President of Technical Operations in December 2019. Prior to joining Avadel, Dr. Vaugh was Principal at Wyatt Pharma Consulting, LLC where he led several development programs for client companies, including Avadel. Prior to this, he was Senior Director and Vice President, Process Technology Development for the North American region of Patheon Pharmaceuticals, a ThermoFisher Scientific company. In this role, he was responsible for assisting client companies in the development, scale-up and commercialization of their products. Additionally, Dr. Vaughn led teams to solve challenging technical problems involving formulation and manufacturing of oral pharmaceuticals and controlled release technologies. He also served as Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development for Banner Life Sciences, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing products using the 505(b)2 pathway. He led technical teams developing a number of oral, modified release products for IND enabled clinical studies, registration, scale-up, NDA regulatory submission and commercialization readiness for products, including Bafiertam™, which has received tentative FDA approval. Prior to Joining Banner, Jason served as Director, Formulation Development for Patheon Pharmaceuticals in Cincinnati, OH, leading teams focused on development, scale-up, registration and commercialization of oral modified release dosage. He received a B.S. in Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Dr. Jennifer Gudeman, Vice President, Medical and Clinical Affairs
Dr. Jennifer Gudeman was appointed Vice President, Medical and Clinical Affairs in December 2020. Dr. Gudeman has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and provided domestic and international presentations on partnership with industry for drug development in high-risk pregnancies. In 2017, Dr. Gudeman received the Healthcare Businesswomen’s “Rising Star” award. During her career, she has led or contributed to six commercial product launches and three clinical development programs, as well as led interactions with medical societies and patient advocacy organizations to help ensure that commercial medications fulfill their clinically proven therapeutic benefits to patients and providers.
Prior to joining Avadel, Dr. Gudeman was Vice President, Medical Affairs at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, overseeing a team of medical science liaisons and scientific communications. Prior to her time at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, she was Director of Medical Affairs at Lumara Health. Additionally, she began her industry career at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Gudeman graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and magna cum laude with a doctorate in pharmacy from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1999 and 2000, respectively. -
Jerad G. Seurer, VP, Legal Affairs & Corporate Secretary
Jerad G. Seurer is Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary, as well as the Compliance Officer for Avadel Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Seurer joined Avadel in 2017 after approximately 13 years at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, where he held numerous positions, including Group General Counsel for the Generics/API business, as well as Vice President of Integration Management. Prior to Mallinckrodt, he was in private legal practice at Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, Marsh Fischmann & Breyfogle, and Wilhelm Law Service. Mr. Seurer is currently licensed in Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin (inactive) and the United States Patent & Trademark Office. He received a Bachelor of Science (Biology), Master of Arts (Biology), and Juris Doctorate (Law) from the University of South Dakota.