Woodstock, IL, August 12, 2025 – Woodstock Sterile Solutions, a leading blow-fill-seal (BFS) contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), and Halo Pharma, a leading CDMO specialising in pharmaceutical services, have named John Bender as the new Vice President of Business Development for the two organisations.

Bender is a 35-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry and brings deep expertise in CDMO services to his new role. He joins the organisation from Alvogen Pharmaceuticals, where he most recently served as Vice President of U.S. Third Party Operations, overseeing CDMO strategic sourcing for North America. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Business Development for Alvogen’s Norwich Pharma CDMO Services division.

“John’s extensive experience in the CDMO sector—not only in sales but also as a buyer of CDMO services—along with his proven track record of building long-term partnerships comes at a great time as we look to launch sterile filling services out of Halo and grow our blow-fill-seal business as we expand our bottle packaging operations at Woodstock,” said Lee Karras, Executive Chairman.

John will be based in Illinois and lead sales and marketing efforts across Woodstock Sterile Solutions and Halo Pharma, focusing on expanding client partnerships and driving growth for the two CDMO businesses.

“Spending the last seven years ‘on the customer side’ provided me with invaluable perspective on what makes CDMOs truly exceptional—from business development and customer service to operational delivery,” said Bender. “I look forward to bringing those insights to our team and to help shape a proactive, customer-centric business development approach that builds a strong pipeline and lasting partnerships.”