PhRMA Announces Board Appointments

At the annual meeting of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Christopher Viehbacher, chief executive officer of sanofi-aventis, resumed his role as board chairman, while John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Co. was elected as chairman-elect of the PhRMA Board of Directors and Robert J. Hugin, president and chief executive officer of Celgene Corp. was elected PhRMA’s board treasurer. Viehbacher assumed the chairmanship in December 2010.

“Chris Viehbacher’s leadership over the last four months has helped to reinvigorate the biopharmaceutical research sector at a time when America’s global leadership in medical innovation is at risk,” said PhRMA President and CEO John J. Castellani in a press release. “The remaining year in his term represents an opportunity for the sector to help America return to economic stability with support from sound state, federal and international policies that incentivize innovation and the jobs that it creates.”

Serving on the sanofi-aventis board and strategy committee, Viehbacher was named chief executive officer of sanofi-aventis in December 2008. "I believe that the United States still provides global leadership in terms of biopharmaceutical research and development, thanks to an historically favorable environment for innovation,” said Viehbacher in the release. “And while America’s economy has benefited from that strength, so too have millions of patients in the U.S. and around the globe, whose lives have been changed, and even saved, thanks to the tremendous medical breakthroughs that result from that innovative work. Ours is an area with increasing competition and a level of change throughout the industry that is absolutely without precedent, but with support from policymakers and other stakeholders, I’m confident that we can continue to create jobs and to bring patients the promise of new medicines.”

Lechleiter has served as chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company since April 2008 and as chairman since January 2009. He became president and chief operating officer of Lilly in 2005, when he also joined the company's board. He began in 1979 at Lilly as a senior organic chemist in process research and development, a department he later led in 1982. “As a scientist and as someone who has spent my entire career in the research-based biopharmaceutical industry, I know first-hand the importance of bringing new medicines to patients, and the challenges and complexity of making that a reality,” said Lechleiter in the release. “By assuming this leadership role on PhRMA's Board of Directors, I look forward to helping advance policies that will enable people around the world to benefit from the work that our companies carry out.”

Hugin has been president and CEO of Celgene since June 2010, before which he had been president and chief operating officer since May 2006. Having served as senior vice president and chief financial officer from June 1999, he was elected by the Board of Directors to serve as a director in December 2001. “As the head of a growing biopharmaceutical research company, I  nderstand all too well how policy, regulatory and market fluctuations can pose significant challenges to the work that we do,” said Mr. Hugin. “This is true for all biopharmaceutical firms, which rely on massive investment in R&D today in order to improve patients’ lives and better secure the future of our businesses tomorrow.”

For more details, visit http://www.phrma.org.