Vice President of Client Pharmaceutical Services
September 17, 2014 – Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (“GRAM”) names John Wichelt as Vice President of Client Pharmaceutical Services. In addition, Karissa Joosten has been promoted to Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs, replacing John Wichelt.
John Wichelt has been with GRAM since before the company opened in 2010. His involvement with GRAM began in 2009 as a contractor and he was hired on full time after helping build and qualify the GRAM facility as a cGMP contract manufacturing space. Serving as Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs, John has been instrumental in establishing a culture focused on superior regulatory performance and developing processes and systems to ensure exceptional quality for GRAM customers. Notably, John helped GRAM attain FDA approval for aseptic filling and terminal sterilization at the company’s Grand Rapids based facility and approval for commercial production for GRAM’s first customer. In his new role, John will have responsibility for project management, technical services, scheduling and materials management. Collectively, those areas comprise much of what is necessary to ensure new customers achieve successful product development, FDA approval and launch of commercial production.
Karissa Joosten has had a successful 20 year career in quality prior to joining GRAM last year. Karissa has extensive knowledge in Quality Assurance due to her roles at previous contract manufacturers, and has worked for a large multinational pharma company in California. Most recently, at GRAM Karissa has held positions in regulatory affairs and project management. Customers and colleagues alike are impressed with her input and guidance on each individual project’s unique needs, and the continuing focus on meeting the highest quality standards.
In announcing the promotion for John Wichelt, GRAM President Tom Ross noted “By combining these functional areas, we should better be able to bring new customers on board efficiently and to ensure customers have a positive experience with GRAM.”
Mr. Ross added “As we grow, exceptional customer satisfaction has to be a hallmark of our company. John has done a great job of initiating and cultivating a very strong quality and regulatory function at GRAM and should be able to do the same in Client Pharmaceutical Services. John’s organizational skills and technical knowledge of GRAM, along with his extensive project management expertise, make him very well suited to this new position. We are very fortunate to have a talented replacement for John. Karissa will do a great job in leading our quality function with a focus on continuous improvement.”
These new roles are essential for GRAM’s future growth. GRAM has recently signed three new clients and appointing these key personnel will position GRAM for successful pharmaceutical services and manufacturing campaigns.