Exton’s West Pharmaceutical Services has chosen Eric Green, a passionate leader with proven experience in revenue growth and a prowess for emerging market expansion, to replace Donald Morel, Jr. as CEO.

The injectable drug delivery giant’s appointee, drawn from St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich Corp., will take over on Friday and work with current Chairman and CEO Donald E. Morel, Jr. until his retirement July 1.

“Eric Green brings a wealth of leadership experience from his time with Sigma-Aldrich, a company which shares West’s customer-centric approach to working with the pharmaceutical industry,” Morel said.

Green previously managed the $1.4 billion research markets business unit at Sigma-Aldrich as division president and company executive vice president.

“I am excited and honored to lead such a well-respected and successful company,” he said. “I am impressed with West’s track record for delivering both innovative packaging and integrated delivery solutions that play such a critical role in delivering injectable medicines for patients across the globe. I intend to build on the strategy the current management team has established and partner with the board to ensure West’s continued success in the future.”

Board Chairman Patrick J. Zenner concurred, noting that Green’s vision aligns with the direction the company has been headed and positions it to realize its growth potential in the coming years.

“West is poised for an exciting future,” he said.

Read more about the retiring CEO’s response to a company catastrophe in 2003 that shaped and defined his tenure here.