Meet Róbert Wessman
Róbert founded Alvogen in 2009, serving as CEO until 2022, and continues as chairman today. Having sketched the business plan on a restaurant napkin, he assembled the investors to buy and revive a struggling US drug manufacturer as the core of the company.
Through greenfield startups, acquisitions in Eastern Europe and Asia, and dozens of distribution partnerships, Alvogen grew rapidly into a world-leading generics organization, producing hundreds of products sold across four continents.
Chaired by Róbert and majority-owned by CVC and Temasek, Alvogen continue as a major force in difficult-to-make generics in the US, including its injectables division Almaject and Almatica branded business. Its former subsidiaries Lotus (based in Taiwan) and Adalvo (based in Malta) are now major companies in their own right.
We live in an age of incredible medical progress, but a wonder drug is only worthy of the name if it's accessible to everyone that needs it. I work to make that happen and that's what Alvogen is all about.
Global leadership
Over the past 25 years, Róbert has built a global reputation as a leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, creating and growing enterprises with a singular purpose: to make life-changing medicines more affordable and readily available to people and patients around the world. He has founded and led a number of 'unicorns' —- global enterprises worth more than $1bn — in this space. Alongside Alvogen, his companies include generics makers and distributors Actavis, Medis, Adalvo and Lotus, as well as Iceland-based biosimilars pioneer Alvotech, where he is both CEO and chairman. His achievements and business strategies have been the subject of three Harvard Business School case studies.
Icelandic roots and firm values
Róbert was born and raised in Iceland. He attended public schools in the Reykjavik area and received his BA in business administration from the University of Iceland. In 1999, at the age of 29, Róbert left his position in the Hamburg office of an Icelandic shipping line and returned to Iceland to become CEO of a near bankrupt local drugmaker, Delta. Merged with another local pharmaceutical company, Actavis was born, and by the time Róbert stepped down as CEO in 2008 to found Alvogen, it had grown to be one of the world's largest generics companies. He has been leading force for growth and innovation in the sector ever since.
Róbert and his wife have six children. An avid and formerly competitive cyclist, he often speaks about his early struggles with dyslexia. While making school more difficult, he also credits the condition with giving him the determination to overcome obstacles, an unusual perspective on problems, and the ability to focus on goals and results. Róbert enjoys spending all the time he can at his vineyard in central France.