John H. Copanos
Founder
Mr. Copanos, third generation pharmaceutical manufacturer, began his career in Baltimore, Maryland, working at Enzytek, Ltd., an API manufacturer of Beta-lactam antibiotics. He then joined Consolidated Pharmaceuticals Inc., eventually ascending to Director of Sales and Marketing. In 2000, Mr. Copanos founded Kirk Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an OTC solid and liquid-dose manufacturing firm. In 2004 Mr. Copanos founded his second company, Andapharm LLC, a solid-dose specialty manufacturer focusing on controlled substances and HRT products. In 2006, the two companies – with combined annual sales of approximately $18 million – were sold to a publicly traded company.

Joseph Esposito
President
Joseph Esposito brings more than twenty-eight years’ experience in the specialty chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Over twenty years has been dedicated to the development and manufacturing of oral solid dose, liquid, and semi-solid products, along with industry experience in regulatory and compliance aiding in the filings of several NDA and ANDA submissions. Joe brings a combined skill set in Pharmaceutical Operations with backgrounds in all areas of Quality and Laboratory Management, Regulatory Affairs, and cGMP Practices. Now returning as President of ECI Pharmaceuticals, Joe will now continue to promote and grow ECI’s current product line, concentrating on an aggressive push toward product development and submissions, and actively pursue new areas in drug repurposing utilizing existing FDA approved products with newly identified indications.

Robert Sharpnack
VP of Quality
From Aug 1972 until Aug 2004 Robert worked for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration where he held multiple positions including; District Drug Investigator, Supervisory Drug Investigator, District Compliance Officer, Regional Drug Specials and one of FDA’s National Drug Experts where he specialized in pharmaceutical inspections including non-sterile tablet and liquids, sterile pharmaceutical inspections for both aseptically filled and terminal sterilization processes as well as active pharmaceutical inspections (APIs).  Robert also served as an active member of FDA’s Foreign Inspection Cadre from Oct 1986 until he retired in Aug 2004. Following his retirement, Robert has worked full time consulting pharmaceutical & vaccine manufacturing sites, where he assisted clients in receiving 12 successful pre-approval inspections (PAIs), where at least 7 did not receive a single FDA-483 item. From Jan 2017 until Aug 2020, Robert worked at ECI Pharmaceuticals as VP of Compliance where he assisted site quality with day-to-day operations and helped secure 2 FDA inspections, both of which did not result in a single FDA-483 item. Prior to his FDA career, Robert spent 4 ½ on active duty in the U.S. Air Force

Jagrut Shah
Senior Project Manager
Jagrut Shah has more than 15 years of experience in financial analysis and operations management.  Jagrut provides financial analysis and insights for product selection, portfolio optimization, multi-year sales projections, partnership opportunities, cost reduction and budgeting. He has managed several projects from R&D to successful commercialization. Jagrut is also a Florida Certified Designated Representative (CDR). Prior to working at ECI, he held team lead position at Exl services and operations manager position at ICICI bank. Mr. Shah holds MS in Finance (ICFAI University) and Master of Commerce (Gujarat University). He has passed all three levels of CFA Program and has completed all four sections of the CPA Exam

Ryan Hamilos
Director of Export Markets
Ryan Hamilos’ career spans more than 15 years serving in various roles in marketing and strategy, including the pharmaceutical industry. His background as an executive leader includes an extensive track record of inspiring and developing strong and collaborative management teams. He has demonstrated the ability to leverage a combination of key relationships with corporate strategy implementation to turnaround and grow businesses. Ryan’s role at ECI Pharmaceuticals also and Business Development with a concentration in Export Marketing. He attended UCLA and serves on the boards of Make A Wish, JARC, Outward Bound, as well as a key member of an advisory board role for St. Nicholas Shine NYC.

Nirali Bhatt
Director of Research and Development
Nirali Bhatt has more than 14 years of drug product development experience ranging from for NDA [505 (b)(1) and 505 (b)(2)] and ANDA [505 (j)] product fillings. Ms. Bhatt brings substantial R&D product development experience and has served roles of increasing responsibility since joining the company in 2016. Ms. Bhatt has been instrumental in various drug product approvals at ECI while leading the development of complex formulations of liquids, topicals and solid dosage forms. She holds several patents and has many patents pending. Prior to working at ECI, she held formulation development positions at Wockhardt Pharmaceuticals, Jubilant Biosys and Piramal Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Bhatt earned her Master’s in Industrial Pharmacy from St John’s University, NY and her Bachelor of Pharmacy from Gujarat University, India.