Management & Key Employees

Nasrat Hakim joined Elite in August 2013 as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hakim has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and medical industry experience in Quality Assurance, Analytical Research and Development, Technical Services and Regulatory Compliance. He brings with him proven management experience, in-depth knowledge of manufacturing systems, development knowledge in immediate and extended release formulations and extensive regulatory experience of GMP and FDA regulations. Prior to his leading Elite, from 2004 to 2013, Mr. Hakim was employed by Actavis, Watson and Alpharma in various senior management positions. Most recently, Mr. Hakim served as International Vice President of Quality Assurance at Actavis, overseeing 25 sites with more than 3,000 employees under his leadership. Mr. Hakim also served as Corporate Vice President of Technical Services, Quality and Regulatory Compliance for Actavis U.S., Global Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Compliance for Alpharma, as well as Executive Director of Quality Unit at TheraTech, overseeing manufacturing and research and development. In 2009, Mr. Hakim founded Mikah Pharma, LLC, a virtual, fully functional pharmaceutical company.

Mr. Hakim’s career started in Medical Laboratory Technology from the Academy of Health and Sciences in the U.S. Army based in San Antonio, TX, followed by Graduate Certification in Regulatory Affairs (RAC) from California State University at Sacramento, Sacramento, CA; Bachelor in Chemistry/Bio-Chemistry and Masters of Science in Chemistry from California State University at Sacramento, Sacramento, CA; and a Masters in Law with Graduate Certification in U.S. Taxation from St. Thomas University, School of Law, Miami, FL.

Mr. Ward joined Elite in September 2023 as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr Ward previously served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer from July 2009 through May 2021. Mr. Ward has over 30 years of industry experience, most recently as chief financial officer of Mirror Biologics, Inc., a privately held life science company and before that as chief financial officer of Enveric Biosciences, Inc., a publicly traded biotech company. Prior to Mr. Ward’s initial tenure with the Company, Mr. Ward filled multiple finance and supply chain leadership roles with the Actavis Group and its U.S. subsidiary, Amide Pharmaceutical, Inc. and was also a consultant for Centennial Communications Corp., a Nasdaq-listed wireless communications provider where he was engaged in improving internal controls and supporting Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

Mr. Ward began his career as a certified public accountant in the audit department of KPMG and holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y, graduating summa cum laude.

Kirko Kirkov has served as Elite’s Chief Commercial Officer since September 2022. Mr. Kirkov joins Elite as an accomplished and multi-faceted leader with more than twenty years of in-depth business development skills across international pharmaceutical organizations. Before joining the Registrant, Mr. Kirkov served as General Manager of Vertice Pharma, a specialty generics pharmaceutical company, from February 2020 to present. From April 2008 to February 2020, Mr. Kirkov was employed by Sandoz and served in positions of increasing responsibilities beginning with Country Head & Managing Director of Bulgaria from 2008 to 2011. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Kirkov served as Sandoz’s Business Unit Head, Branded Prescription Generics in Russia, and most recently, from January 2013 to February 2020, served as Sandoz’s Executive Director, Commercial Operations. Mr. Kirkov brings with him a broad range of experience in the areas of business development, operationalization of commercial strategy, and implementation of retail and wholesale channel sales operations, having overseen sales portfolios consisting of 400+ product families and 1500+ SKUs covering both generic and branded products.

Mr. Kirkov has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering / Engineering Management from the University of Ottawa, two Master of Science degrees respectively in Naval Architecture and Ocean Systems Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching from the University of East London, and an MBA from the University of Durham.

Mr. Kirkov joins Elite in a newly created position to oversee the sale and marketing of commercial products not under license under Elite’s label.

Ken Smith has served as Elite’s Vice President of Legal since October 2014. Prior to joining Elite, Dr. Smith previously held the positions of Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for Alpharma, Inc. and before that Head of North American Intellectual Property for Sanofi Aventis. In both positions, Dr. Smith had global responsibility for all intellectual property issues related to multiple business units involved with various technologies including branded products, animal health products, active pharmaceutical ingredients, generic drugs, and vaccines. Dr. Smith also brings extensive background and knowledge in the area of abuse-deterrent intellectual property. Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Houston, an M.B.A from Lehigh University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston.

Doug Plassche, a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, joined Elite in August 2013 and brings with him more than 23 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Plassche was employed by Actavis as Managing Director of the New Jersey Solid Oral Dose Operations, overseeing 450 employees and the production of more than 100 products. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Plassche was Senior Director of Manufacturing for PAR Pharmaceuticals overseeing 200 employees and the production of more than 70 products. From 1990 – 2007, he was employed by Schering-Plough progressing steadily through multiple disciplines, locations and technical operations sectors with increasing levels of responsibility.

Chris Dick joined Elite in November 2002 as Vice President of Business Development. Since August 2013, Mr. Dick has served as Head of Development. During his tenure at Elite, Mr. Dick has served in various capacities including Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, President, Chief Operating Officer, acting Chief Executive Officer and Board Director. Prior to joining Elite, Mr. Dick served as Director of Business Development for Elan Drug Delivery, Inc. responsible for licensing and business development of Elan’s portfolio of drug delivery technologies. From 1978 to 1999, he held various business and technical positions at FMC Corporation which included responsibility for business development and marketing for EnTec™, a drug delivery business unit within FMC Corporation’s Pharmaceutical Division, and marketing for its pharmaceutical functional coatings product line. Mr. Dick holds an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business, New York University, and a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.