People: Sanofi CEO Elected EFPIA President
CEO of drug giant Sanofi, Christopher Viehbacher, has been elected President of EFPIA (the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations).
Viehbacher - who has been CEO at Sanofi since 2008 and has also served as the Chairman of PhRMA in the US – used his appointment to call for the EU, member states and industry to work together in facing Europe’s economic and social challenges.
“As an industry, we will continue to put patients first by delivering innovative, life-changing medicines that address unmet medical needs,” he said. “But given the chronic deficits of healthcare systems, we must work differently, build collaborative policies and combine our strengths at both national and European levels.”
And the EFPIA raised concerns with new EU clinical data transparency rulings recently. Read about it here.
Vancouver-based biopharma company Qu Biologics has appointed the former President of Novartis Robert Pelzer to its board of directors.
“Bob Pelzer’s wealth of leadership experience with Novartis and DuPont will be invaluable to Qu Biologics during this important stage of our growth and development, as we advance our clinical trial in Crohn’s disease and develop relationships with potential pharma partners,” said Qu Biologics CEO Dr. Hal Gunn.
The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has elected a new President in the form of Adrian Whitfield, current CEO of Synthomer.
“Adrian Whitfield’s qualities and experience as leader of a business that operates across the globe will be of huge importance to the Association as we work with Government and others to provide ongoing support for growing the chemical industry in the UK,” said CIA Chief Executive Steve Elliott.
And finally this week, Galectin Therapeutics has appointed Jack Callicutt to the position of Chief Financial Officer.
Callicutt, with over 22 years of experience in the financial field and most recently CFO for REACH Health, will take over from Thomas McGauley who served as interim CFO for the last 14 months.
According to Galectin’s CEO Dr. Peter Traber: “Jack's demonstrated leadership and deal-making capabilities coupled with his financial management experience and industry knowledge makes him an ideal fit with the needs of the company and further consolidates our leadership group in the Atlanta office.”
