Manufacturing
CEO
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes | Beloit
Stephen Merrick joined Beloit-based NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC in 2016 as its chief operating officer. In 2018, he was named president and chief executive officer of the commercial-stage nuclear medicine technology company. In response to its growth, the company named a new president this year, and Merrick transitioned to solely CEO.
Founded in 2006, the company produces and commercializes diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, providing radioisotopes that are used in SPECT imaging procedures and for research. NorthStar saw an opportunity as legacy companies in the market began having challenges providing a consistent supply of radioisotopes around 2009 and developed a new way of making isotopes for imaging.
Today, its radioisotope product, molybdenum-99, is available nationwide. Last year, the company was awarded $37 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and expand its production of molybdenum-99.
NorthStar has about 275 employees. An expansion underway at its campus is expected to increase its workforce to 300 by the end of the year, Merrick has said.
Earlier in his career, Merrick worked for 17 years for Bristol-Myers Squibb, culminating as its vice president of strategic products – intercontinental. He was also senior vice president and president of international commercial operations for U.K.-based Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and later vice president of hospital – international marketing for Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter International Inc.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Exeter; MBA, London Business School