Hugh O’Neill
President, Commercial Operations NA
Mallinckrodt
Reshaping Company Cultures
When you need to galvanize a culture, call Hugh O’Neill. Recruited from Sanofi to jump start a new brands business for Mallinckrodt, Hugh has ignited action and created momentum. He initiated innovative programs to boost the revenue curve for the company, recruited A+ players for new roles, rewrote the brands business strategic plan, and with CEO Mark Trudeau and a Mallinckrodt senior executive team, worked to complete three major acquisitions—Cadence, Questcor and now Ikaria. These accomplishments at Mallinckrodt are just the latest in Hugh’s successful 20-year career which also includes time at Pharmacia, Novartis and Sandoz.
“I consider it my greatest achievement to have a strong hand in driving change in the companies I’ve served throughout my career,” Hugh explains. “In a bit over 20 months, we’ve fundamentally transformed Mallinckrodt into a leading biopharmaceutical player—by working incredibly hard and by building a culture that is focused on creating value for patients and shareholders. When we focus on making a difference in the lives of patients, we build a common purpose across the team. We understand that if we do what it is right for the patient, the business will continue to thrive.”
Mallinckrodt’s mission is: Managing Complexity. Improving Lives. Hugh believes that having this sort of clear mission creates a more energized and passionate workforce and has been a key to transforming the business. Focused on a clear mission, company employees are more effective and solution oriented and better able to convey the benefits of Mallinckrodt’s offerings to payers and policy makers. They’re also reaching previously unparalleled levels of performance.
In addition to continuing to manage the company’s specialty generics and intrathecal therapies commercial operations, Hugh is now concentrating on building out what he views as Mallinckrodt’s greatest platform for growth—its Autoimmune and Rare Diseases business. “My future goals are relatively simple,” he says. “I want to make a difference every day and help our teams be as successful as they can be by challenging our assumptions and the status quo.”
