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Mr. Means brings over 24 years of pharmaceutical and healthcare industry experience as a pharmaceutical representative, founder of a drug manufacturer, and a domestic and international consultant for entities involved in pharmaceutical distribution. He formerly served as founder, chairman and president of Imiren Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which is the only African American company producing and marketing drugs under its own FDA issued NDC and its own label.
He is a member of the Council of Healthcare Advisors for Gerson Lehman, a Wall Street consulting firm providing expert advice to the investment community. As a member of the Council, Toney provides expert advice and consultation to investment analyst regarding condition, trends and opportunities in the U.S. and international pharmaceutical and related industries. In 2003, Mr. Means was appointed to the Congressional Small Business Task force. This task force acts as an advisory panel to the Members of the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business which has the oversight of several agencies and programs including the Small Business Administration.
Mr. Means serves on several boards. Currently he is Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board for the Georgia Statewide Minority Business Development Center, Board Member of the Advisory Board of the Georgia Tech College of Management, and on the Board of Directors of MedShare, International. He has been featured in several publications including the Diversity Inc. magazine, Diversity.Com, the Atlanta Tribune, Atlanta Business Journal and Tech Topics. He has been a guest on several nationwide radio business shows. Mr. Means is a former member of the Georgia Executive Roundtable and the National Association of Pharmaceutical Representatives. He is a former Hoechst Scholar and National Merit Scholar. Currently Toney is listed among Who Who’s in science and technology.
Mr. Means began his career in 1982 with Burroughs Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) in the field sales division selling medicines to doctors in the Atlanta area. Two years later he was promoted into the sales training division where he spent four years training sales representatives and marketing support personnel. He revised and updated the Cardiovascular training module and introduced the round table sales training technique to the company. Toney was assigned to the position of Government Rep in 1989 where he managed Medicaid accounts for the company. He was selected as an industry liaison during the development of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 1990 (OBRA 90).
His career at Wellcome included stints in marketing, business development, and research development positions. Toney participated in the launch of several novel products including AZT (AIDS therapy), Zovirax (Herpes therapy), Exosurf (Synthetic Lung Surfactant) Mivacron (Critical Care) and Zyban (Smoking Cessation). Toney assisted in the development of the company’s initial HMO, PPO, and PBM contracts with such companies as Kaiser, PruCare, Aetna, Blue Cross, Cigna, Columbia HCA, and Bon Secours. Toney was the only consecutive four time Presidents Club member in company history. He finished his career as a Senior Executive in the field sales division.
In 1999 Mr. Means founded Imiren Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the nations only African American owned and operated pharmaceutical company producing and marketing drugs under its own FDA issued NDC and its own label. He served as its’ Chairman and President until October 2004. Under his direction, the company experienced exceptional growth. Imiren’s twenty seven (27) prescription products are dispensed in over 20,000 U.S. retail pharmacies and 6500 hospitals. Imiren’s five OTC products are available in over 3500 retail outlets in 41 states, including all Kroger stores.
In 2003, Toney provided the leadership for the pharmaceutical industry with Imiren becoming the first pharmaceutical company to support HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's Closing the Health Gap initiative. This program is aimed at shrinking the disease disparities in the U.S. between Caucasians and minorities. Imiren and Mr. Means were featured at the initiatives’ inaugural press conference and reception.
Toney served as the Vice President of Marketing, at Direct Pharmacy Service, Inc., from October 2004 till joining RxFS. Toney closed the company’s first mail order contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia to provide prescriptions by mail to the employees of the City of Atlanta. Toney negotiated and closed the contract with ProCare Rx to provide mail order fulfillment and PBM services for DPS; and he has been successful in initiating and continuing negotiations with Kaiser and Wal-Mart. Toney initiated and facilitated the development of the company’s first client presentation collateral; the first patient brochures and the company’s first informational brochure.
Mr. Means received his Bachelor’s Degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. | 