Pfizer’s UK managing director Jonathan Emms has been elected as the next president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
Emms will succeed Merck Sharp & Dohme’s (MSD) senior vice president and UK managing director Deepak Khanna in April, when he will serve for one year and have the option of standing for re-election for a further year.
ABPI chief executive Stephen Whitehead said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Jonathan when he starts his Presidency in April 2014. This is a significant time for a new president as we enter a new pricing era, and I have no doubt that Jonathan will provide strong leadership to the ABPI and the industry as a whole.”
The UK industry is in the midst of preparing for the introduction of the new version of the Pharmaceutical Pricing Regulatory Scheme (PPRS) in January, final details of which were published last week.
Emms’ appointment comes after he and his company expressed its concern about the pricing deal when the initial PPRS ‘heads of agreement’ was published in early November, labelling it a “missed opportunity for patients, industry and the UK economy”.
Emms commented then: “Now the deal is agreed, Government must take action to fix the UK system and ensure that innovative new medicines get to the patients who need them. NICE must be given a new mandate, one that makes it a beacon for innovation, helping to deliver the Government’s ambitions and benefitting patients, the NHS and the UK economy.”
Beginning his career at Glaxo, Emms joined Pfizer in 1999 and in January 2012 he took up the role of UK managing director.
Previous to this, he held a number of roles across Pfizer, including spending six years in France establishing European regional teams and serving as marketing head for the European specialty asset teams.