Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> May 10, 1999
GERT W. MUNTHE is President and Chief Operating Officer for Alpharma
Inc. a multinational pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures
and markets specialty human pharmaceutical and animal health products
with annual revenues of approximately $600 million. Mr. Munthe joined
Alpharma on May 1, 1998. Prior to joining Alpharma, Mr. Munthe was
President and Chief Executive Officer of NetComa ASA, a
telecommunications company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, which he
joined in 1993. He was responsible for building its successful network,
distribution facilities, and organizational infrastructure. Under his
leadership, NetCom went public in 1996 and its shares currently trade at
approximately 200% over the IPO price making it one of the top 10
companies in Norway. Prior to 1993, Mr. Munthe held senior positions at
Hafslund Nycomed ASA, a major Norwegian health care and energy company,
for approximately 6 years. He was appointed President of the Nycomed's
Imaging Division and was responsible for 70% of the Company's total
operating profits and for expanding the European sales and marketing
organization. Mr. Munthe served in the Norwegian navy as a sub-
lieutenant and was educated at the University of Oslo and at Columbia
University in New York where he received his MBA degree in 1983. He then
joined the consulting practice of McKinsey & Company, Inc. where he
worked for 4 years out of McKinsey's offices in Scandinavia and the U.S.
Mr. Munthe also holds a Master's degree of International Affairs from
Columbia. Mr. Munthe resides in Ridgewood, New Jersey with his wife and
three children. Profile
TWST: Give us a brief overview and a little bit of the history of thecompany just to kind of set the stage for the readers.
Mr. Munthe: Alpharma originated in Norway in 1903. It