Unilife Corporation has appointed Richard Wieland as its executive vice president and chief financial officer. Unilife is a US-based medical device company focused on the design, development, manufacture and supply of a proprietary range of retractable syringes.

Mr Wieland will be responsible for the management of Unilife’s finance and accounting, human resources and IT operations. He will be immediately replacing Unilife’s current CFO Dan Calvert.

Mr Wieland has over 30 years of senior financial experience with US-based public and private companies. He has served as the CFO of four NASDAQ-listed companies within the life sciences industry, and as a senior executive of two New York Stock Exchange-listed companies.

Unilife said that most recently, Mr Wieland served as the CFO of Cytochroma, a privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company. From 2004 to 2008, Mr Wieland served as executive vice-president and CFO of Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, a NASDAQ-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.

Prior to that, Mr Wieland served as a senior executive of other NASDAQ-listed life science and healthcare companies, including Option Care, where he was a board member, president and chief operating offer.

Alan Shortall, chief executive officer of Unilife, said: “Richard has an outstanding record and we are extremely pleased to add him to the Unilife team. The appointment of such experienced and well-respected financial executives in the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets as Richard and our new Board member Mary Kate Wold reflects our continuing efforts to improve our already outstanding team, and will support our growth as a US based emerging global leader for innovative medical devices.

“Richard has extensive knowledge and broad expertise in US financial markets with a special emphasis in the production of products consumed within global healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. We are confident that Richard possesses the skills required to support Unilife during this period of rapid growth as we transition into a preferred supplier of devices for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.”

Mr Wieland said: “With Unilife’s unique and revolutionary technology, I anticipate that the Company will quickly become a strong international leader in the fast-growing pharmaceutical market for prefilled syringes. I am excited to begin working with Alan and the Unilife team, incorporating my skills and experiences to ensure that we capitalize on our leading technologies and established partnerships with leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.

“My primary responsibility will be to ensure that financial accountability continues to be rigorously applied as we roll out and expand our product portfolio.”