The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) has appointed Eric Cornut as its interim director general, following the resignation of Richard Bergström from the post.
Currently an independent consultant based in Basel, Switzerland, Cornut brings over 25 years of pharmaceutical management experience to the role, including five years as chairman of EFPIA’s executive committee.
He most recently served as chief ethics, compliance and policy officer at Novartis, taking up the position in 2014 after a four-year stint as chairman of the board for Novartis Japan.
Having first joined Novartis in 1997 as a general manager in The Netherlands, Cornut has held a number of increasingly senior managerial roles at the Swiss pharma firm, including president of Novartis France, head of Europe and chief commercial officer.
Joe Jiminez, president of EFPIA, said: “Eric brings a wealth of valuable experience, having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 25 years with responsibility for both commercial and policy work.
“I am very pleased that Eric accepted to lead EFPIA ad interim.”