Advent International, a global private equity investor, and Warburg Pincus, a global growth investor, have appointed Franco Negron CEO of BioPharma Solutions (BPS) following its proposed divestiture from Baxter International Inc.

The closing of the divestiture is expected to occur in the second half of 2023.

In a statement, Advent said that Negron is a highly accomplished leader with nearly 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, he served for three years as the CEO of ApiJect Systems America. Prior to joining ApiJect, Negron held several key leadership roles, including president of commercial operations at Thermo Fisher Scientific and president of development and commercial, North America at Patheon Pharmaceuticals. Negron has also held senior positions at other leading pharmaceutical companies, including Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

BPS has been a provider of sterile contract manufacturing solutions, parenteral delivery systems and customized support services to the pharma and biotech industries for decades. Following the proposed divestiture of BPS, BPS will operate as a premier, independent end-to-end contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing a range of services for clients, from clinical research to commercial deployment.

“Franco will bring inclusive leadership, creative energy and customer focus to help BPS further elevate its position as a trusted and preferred partner of contract manufacturing services,” said Carmine Petrone, a managing director on Advent’s Healthcare team. “Franco’s dedication to innovation aligns with BPS’ focus on advancing leading-edge, high-quality solutions that help address the unique needs of pharmaceutical and biotech customers worldwide.”

Negron said, “BPS’ success and record of innovation position the company well to continue to grow its mission-critical services across a variety of therapeutic areas. With the partnership of Advent and Warburg, I am excited to lead the impressive team at BPS, which has developed differentiated technical capabilities and established an industry-leading reputation for quality and reliability.