Following the appointment of new boards at the US innovative pharma industry body PhRMA, and its European counterpart EFPIA, it is global group the IFPMA’s turn to reveal a new CEO leadership team, with appointees from Pfizer, Roche and Daiichi Sankyo.
As the industry’s biggest global trade group that represents over 90 pharma companies, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) has chosen high-profile big pharma bosses to lead its new CEO leadership team over the next two years. Heading up the group as the new president will be Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer accompanied by Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker as vice-president along with existing vice-president, Sunao Manabe, executive chairperson and CEO of Daiichi Sankyo.
Bourla, who is currently vice-president of IFPMA, will take over from Jean-Christophe Tellier who has been in the position since 2021. With Pfizer’s impact during COVID-19, Bourla appears to be a logical choice as a successor to Tellier who led the organisation through the crisis period. “As President of IFPMA, I was proud to see the way in which our industry responded to the COVID pandemic. We now find ourselves at a critical juncture where we must continue to show the power of innovation to drive global health progress,” Tellier asserted.
IFPMA is not the only innovative pharma body ushering in new leadership. In the US, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) earlier this year appointed Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan as the new chair of its board of directors along with Gilead’s Daniel O’Day who took over as board chair-elect and Bourla as treasurer of the PhRMA board.
The US organisation’s new leaders have some pressing priorities on their agendas, namely grappling with the drug pricing legislation brought forward in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). “The policy environment threatens this progress, adding to the waiting and uncertainty facing patients hoping for treatments and cures,” claimed PhRMA President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl. “Vas is well-positioned for the job of board chair. I look forward to working closely with him and our board as we continue pushing for policies that address the broader affordability challenges patients face while protecting the pipeline of potentially game-changing medicines.
Another recent leadership shake up took place at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), the group that represents life science innovators in Europe. Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen was named as president, whereas Bayer pharma division head Stefan Oelrich was chosen as first VP and Ipsen CEO David Loew as second VP. The European body faces the European Commission’s (EC) proposed pharmaceutical legislation reform. “We look forward to working with policymakers across Europe to reach a shared understanding of how we can best achieve our goals for competitiveness and health, together,” said Fruergaard Jørgensen.
