Bio
Jean Hoffman is an independent board member and investor based in Portland, Maine.
She founded, chaired the Board of Directors and led Putney as President and CEO from inception to the 2016 sale to Dechra Holdings US Inc., a subsidiary of Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC, for $200 million in cash.
Ms. Hoffman developed the strategy, raised over $60 million in debt and equity and recruited the outstanding team that built Putney into America’s leading generic drug company for pets. Under her leadership, Putney’s R&D and Regulatory team received 47% of the dog and cat generic approvals by FDA from 2012-2015. The Company’s commercial team launched eleven veterinary approved products for pets, four of them first to market generic dosage equivalents. Putney had the highest product market shares of any U.S. generic veterinary company as well as the highest growth rate amongst all U.S. animal pharmaceutical companies.
Putney was Jean Hoffman’s second successful exit for a company she founded and built, after the acquisition of Newport Strategies, Inc. by Thomson Reuters (NYSE-TRI) in 2004. Newport built a global brand for its proprietary healthcare information technology (HIT) systems. Newport’s software developers delivered multiple generations of proprietary information systems that were adopted by customers on five continents and achieved an industry leading annual renewal rate of more than 85%.
Jean Hoffman has been honored with numerous awards, including being an EY Entrepreneur Of The YearTM 2014 Award winner in the life sciences category for New England.
Other honors include being inducted into NewSpring Capital’s CEO Hall of Fame in 2016 for outstanding investment returns; Deloitte’s 2013 North American Technology Fast 500; Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S., 2011 and 2013; Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit Honoring 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, 2012 and Best Places to Work in Maine, Society for HR Management, #1 in 2013; ranked in 2014 and 2012.
Jean Hoffman has an exceptional track record of leadership, strategy, business growth and team building in the global pharmaceutical, veterinary and health care information technology industries. She has been recognized by shareholders, business partners, independent judges, customers and team members for ground breaking strategy, visionary leadership, successful entrepreneurship, astute risk management and excellence in communications.
Ms. Hoffman’s career began at the Washington, DC based, public/private U.S.-China Business Council in 1980, where she advised U.S. companies on the establishment of business with China and Chinese entities on exporting to the U.S, commencing her career in the pharmaceutical industry.
In 1982, Ms. Hoffman joined the Swiss-Asian Zuellig Group of Companies, owners of a portfolio of industry leading businesses in healthcare and agribusiness. She initially served as Manager, China Business, for MWM Chemical, a subsidiary of Zuellig North America. After being promoted to General Manager, China, for Zuellig NA in 1984, she led business development in China on behalf of Zuellig subsidiaries in South East Asia and the U.S., including the Singapore and Malaysian listed Gold Coin Group. Ms. Hoffman was named CEO and a member of the board of directors of ZetaPharm, a subsidiary of Zuellig, in 1987. There she developed a new strategy and turn-around plan focusing on the then-nascent U.S. generic pharmaceutical industry. She left ZetaPharm in 1989 and founded Hoffman Pharmaceutical Consulting in 1990, the predecessor to Newport Strategies.
Education:
B.A., cum laude, East Asian History and Government and Legal Studies, Bowdoin College, Maine.
Honors in History; thesis “Chinese Cultural Continuity: The Family as Core.”
Junior year, Chinese University of Hong Kong, HK. Courses in Chinese language, history, culture.
Languages: English, Mandarin Chinese (formerly fluent), French (rusty).
Executive education programs completed:
- Harvard Business School (Making Corporate Boards More Effective, 2012)
- Stanford Graduate School of Business (Executive Program for Growing Companies, 1996)
- Columbia Graduate School of Business (Leading and Managing People Program, 1996)
Current Boards:
MedRhythms Inc., Portland, ME
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME; Farmington, CT; Sacramento, CA; China
Argenta, UK, US, New Zealand, Germany, Spain
Casco Bay Lines, Portland, ME
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, Grafton, MA