Leadership
Anthony C. Hooper
President, Americas
Tony Hooper leads the company’s $13 billion pharmaceutical business in North and South America, the Middle East and Africa. He is also responsible for the company’s distributor markets.
Tony is inspired by the company’s mission to “help patients prevail over serious diseases” and proud to work for an industry that brings such great value to society. He says, “Having the opportunity to improve people’s health, quality of life and often life expectancy is why a lot of us have chosen to be in the pharmaceutical industry. We can and we do make huge differences in the lives of patients every day.”
He encourages his employees to keep the patient at the center of everything they do, and to act with a sense of urgency because “seriously ill patients are waiting for us to get them the medicines they need.”
During his career with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tony has led the business in every geographic region in which Bristol-Myers Squibb has a presence. He joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1996 as general manager of the Australia/New Zealand business. He was then promoted to managing director of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and then to vice president and general manager for Northern Europe. In 2000 Tony became president of the company’s Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. From 2001 to 2002, he was president, Intercontinental region and, from 2002 to 2004, Tony was president, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In 2004, Tony was named president of U.S. Pharmaceuticals. In this role, he led the organization through the launch of seven new products, several serious business challenges (including significant patent expirations and external threats to existing patents) and rapid changes within the pharmaceutical industry. Tony was promoted to president of Americas in 2009.
Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tony was assistant vice president of Global Marketing for Wyeth Laboratories. He also worked at Lederle International in New Jersey where he led the international marketing group. Tony assumed his first general management role as country manager for Lederle Laboratories in South Africa in 1987.
Tony was born and raised in South Africa and moved to the United States in 1989. He has a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s in business administration from the University of South Africa. He began his career in law as a state prosecutor specializing in company and criminal law, and then later switched to a career in business when he began working in the pharmaceutical industry.
In 2009, Tony was chairman of the board for the National Pharmaceutical Council and now serves as a board member. Tony also serves on the executive boards of the American Heart Association (AHA) of Mercer County, New Jersey, the Health Institute of New Jersey, American Institute of Stuttering and Impact Young Lives Foundation. He is an advisor to Mended Hearts Inc., and the Chair for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 2010 Life Savers Dinner. In 2008, he was honored along with Vice President Joe Biden as a co-recipient of the American Institute of Stuttering’s “2008 Freeing Voices, Changing Lives” Award.
Altogether, Tony has lived in five countries and on four continents. He resides in New Jersey with his wife.
January 2010