The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has appointed Amgen’s John Kearney to take over as its new president from Pfizer’s Jonathan Emms who is moving to New York after a promotion at the US giant.
Mr Kearney, General Manager UK and Ireland at Amgen, will take over on April 24. He has 35 years of experience in the pharma industry, holding high-level roles at GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer before joining Amgen in 2007.
Mr Kearney, who led the ABPI’s pricing team in negotiations with the Department of Health to secure the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS), said he is looking forward “to playing my part in ensuring [scientific] innovations are able to make a real difference in the funding and provision of health services, in the outstanding work of healthcare professionals in the UK, and – ultimately – to patients”.
_Mr Emms has been promoted to global marketing lead within Pfizer’s Global Established Pharmaceutical business. He said “I’m proud of what has been achieved during my tenure”, noting that “the industry is recognised as a key sector for growth in the UK, but despite this we are operating against a backdrop of Government austerity measures and an NHS budget under significant pressure”.
He concluded by saying “it is imperative that the one-off austerity contribution made by industry through the PPRS is met with good faith by the Government, which must re-double its efforts to ensure that the agreement results in improved access to modern medicines. I have every confidence that John will do a great job in leading the ABPI”.
