Dr Richard Barker joins Celgene's board of directors

Former director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Dr Richard Barker has been elected to the board of directors at Celgene.

He spent almost seven years at ABPI's helm, stepping down in May last year when he was succeeded by Stephen Whitehead.

It is Barker's second recent appointment after he joined authentication and traceability services company Aegate earlier this month as a senior adviser.

Prior to his post leading the ABPI, Barker's career included serving as chief executive of Chiron Diagnostics, general manager of IBM's Worldwide Healthcare Solutions division and leader of McKinsey & Company's European healthcare practice.

Robert Hugin, Celgene's chairman and CEO, said: “As we continue to expand our global reach, Dr Barker's international perspective will enhance our ability to navigate through an increasingly dynamic healthcare landscape and provide patients access to our innovative therapies.”

The US biopharmaceutical company focuses on developing and commercialising novel treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Its top-selling product is Revlimid, which suffered a setback last November after a phase III prostate cancer trial found no overall survival benefit.

Nevertheless, the drug is still expected to account for around $3bn of the firm's 2011 sales.