Wedgewood Pharmacy CEO and leadership

Marcy A. Bliss, Chief Executive Officer of private-equity-owned Wedgewood Pharmacy, is responsible for overall company performance. She is a member of the board of directors and works with the owners, board, and management team to set and to ensure the delivery of patient care, prescriber service, corporate vision, mission, strategy, structure, and long-term goals. The company’s brand is recognized by 99% of veterinarians in the United States.

Under her leadership, in July 2018 the company acquired a significant competitor, Diamondback Drugs, in Scottsdale, Arizona, adding a second compounding pharmacy location and 180 employees. In 2020, the company acquired Wildlife Pharmaceuticals and its ZooPharm subsidiary; and opened a 503B Outsourcing Facility, Wedgewood Connect, in San Jose, California.

During her tenure, Wedgewood Pharmacy has received many awards. In 2019, she was honored personally by the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce as Businessperson of the Year. In 2017, the company received the annual Award for Excellence from the New Jersey Business & Industry Association in the Outstanding Employer category, recognizing the company’s creative and forward-looking approach to managing its workforce. In that same year, the company received the inaugural P.E.T. award from the PSI Business Symposium. The award’s acronym stands for three vital components of veterinary practice success, People, Education and Training. Wedgewood Pharmacy was recognized as the Education winner for its substantial public affairs education work with veterinarians, state and federal legislators and regulators. In 2016, the company received the fourth annual Marcum Innovator of the Year Award, which recognizes the Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area’s most innovative individuals and organizations in their fields. In 2015, the company received the Annual Award for Excellence from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association in the Business Success category, recognizing the company’s contribution to the state’s economic growth through the expansion of its business.

A tireless defender of veterinary compounding and a fierce advocate for the rights of animals and pet parents, she leads the company's public affairs and issues-management programs and is frequently seen on Capitol Hill, protecting patient and prescriber access to compounded medication. She also speaks to professional groups about the compounding pharmacy profession, marketing, and public affairs.

Most recently she was executive vice president of business operations and marketing for Wedgewood Pharmacy, having begun her career with the company in early 1999 as employee number eight. Over the years, she assumed positions of increasing responsibility, many with a significant emphasis on marketing, product development, and pharmacy growth.

Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, she was chief marketing officer for the accounting and consulting firm, The Siegfried Group. Previously, she was a member of the staff of American Red Cross's (ARC) national office in Washington, DC, for planning, evaluation, and chapter operations and later served as communication manager for the Wilmington chapter of the ARC.

In addition to her role on the board of Wedgewood Pharmacy since 2016, she serves on the board of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association; and is a member of the board of trustees of The Appel Farm Arts & Music Center (chair 2018-2020), where she is committed to supporting its mission of transforming lives through the arts. Previously, she served on the board of directors of the Tobin Foundation for the Visually Impaired.

She holds a B.S. degree in Business/Marketing and Management Studies from the University of Maryland. A life-long learner, she has continued her education at Wharton Executive Education, University of Pennsylvania, Aresty Institute of Executive Education; the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (Stanford, CA); and as an Executive Mastery client of Gap International.

Experienced President & Chief Operating Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the pharmacy, pharmaceutical, and medical device industry. Skilled in driving Continuous Improvement, Operations Management, Customer Service, Quality, and Manufacturing Operations. Strong business development professional focused on driving growth, operational performance, and share holder value.

Maria Kraus, CPA, chief financial officer of Wedgewood Pharmacy, reports to Marcy Bliss, chief executive officer. She is responsible for the company’s Finance function including working with the board of directors, the CEO, and other leaders to strategically drive and support growth. She works with the Finance team to ensure that the company’s systems and processes are scalable and able to meet the demands of rapid growth and innovative business opportunities. She has primary responsibility for planning, implementing, managing, and controlling all financial-related activities of the company including direct responsibility for accounting, finance, strategic planning, job costing, deal analysis, licensing, data information, capital planning, cash, and the budget/forecast process.

Prior to joining Wedgewood Pharmacy, she served for more than 25 years in financial leadership roles, most recently as CFO at Accelerated Enrollment Solutions (AES), a global patient-recruitment and site network organization providing services to pharmaceutical companies performing clinical trials. In this role, Maria was responsible for driving AES’ financial vision, as well as leading all financial operations, planning and analysis, accounting, commercial budgets, and internal controls.

Previously, she was executive vice president, Corporate Development and Strategy at Bioclinica, where she was responsible for that company’s strategic growth, including mergers and acquisitions. She was formerly vice president and corporate controller at Bioclinica where she led the Global Accounting and Finance, Legal, Procurement, Facilities, Human Resources, Marketing, and Information Technology Departments. Maria began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia.

Maria is a board director of The Hershey Trust Company and a board manager of the Milton Hershey School, where she serves as vice chair, and chairs the Audit Committee. She also is a board manager for the M.S. Hershey Foundation, and serves as chairman. Maria also has been a board member with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania for more than a decade.

Maria earned her B.S. degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and a certificate of Human Resources Management from Villanova University. She is a certified public accountant.

Bob Palmer, Chief Solutions Officer for Wedgewood Pharmacy, has full strategic and operational accountability for business operations and information technology. As a member of the Wedgewood Pharmacy leadership team, he is accountable for performance measures and for marshaling available resources to the most productive uses, with the aim of creating maximum value for the company and its customers. He has been in the information technology profession since 1989.

Prior to joining Wedgewood in 2011, he was senior vice president and CIO for Franklin Credit Management Corporation; vice president, IT and CIO for Brown-Forman Corporation-Lenox Group, Inc.; senior programmer analyst for Johnson & Johnson-Janssen Pharmaceutica; and lead analyst for Emerson Quiet Kool.

He holds a B.S. degree in Management from Rowan University; and an M.B.A. degree from Rider University. He received a post-graduate Darden Partnership certificate from the Darden Graduate School of Business from the University of Virginia.

In 2001, he was recognized by Computerworld magazine as a 100 Premier Leader, receiving an exclusive Best in Class award.