Kevin Sharer Re-Elected PhRMA Board Chairman; Seeks to Shape Better Future for Patients By Sustaining the Industry’s Leadership in Life Sciences

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kevin Sharer, chief executive officer and president of Amgen, was re-elected chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) today at the trade association's annual meeting. Also elected were Merck Chief Executive Officer and President Richard Clark as PhRMA board's chairman-elect and AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer David Brennan as PhRMA board's treasurer. In addition, it was announced that Jeffrey Kindler, Pfizer chairman and chief executive officer, is a new member of PhRMA's board of directors.

Mr. Sharer resumes his role as PhRMA's chairman, a position he assumed in September 2006.

"Our industry is facing a number of challenges as well as opportunities in the year ahead," said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. "We plan to step up our efforts to inform and educate legislators on issues of critical importance to our companies and patients everywhere. I look forward to working with Kevin and the rest of the board in the coming year."

Mr. Sharer has been Amgen's chief executive officer and president since May 2000 and has been chairman of the company's board of directors since December 2000. He served as Amgen president and chief operating officer from October 1992 to May 2000 and has been a director of the company board since November 1992. Before joining Amgen, Mr. Sharer was president of the Business Markets Division of MCI Communications and served in various executive positions at General Electric and was a consultant for McKinsey & Company. He serves on the board of directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation, 3M and the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, and is chairman of the board of trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and a member of the Business Council.

In continuing the chairmanship of PhRMA, Mr. Sharer outlined a number of important priorities for the industry over the next year. "Millions of people suffer daily from serious illnesses. Our growing knowledge of human genetics and advances in modern biology offer great promise for the development of new treatments and cures. To deliver on that promise, we need public policies that stimulate and reward innovation and assure patient access to those breakthrough medicines."

Mr. Kindler joins the PhRMA board just less than a year after assuming the helm at Pfizer. He was named Pfizer's chief executive officer in July 2006 and has served as chairman of the company's board since December 2006. He joined Pfizer in 2002 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, with responsibility for Pfizer's Legal Division. He was named Vice Chairman in 2005, joining the company's four-person Executive Committee and assuming responsibility for Pfizer's Corporate Affairs Division.

Prior to his transition to the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Kindler served as line management at McDonald's Corporation as president of Partner Brands. This operating unit, with more than 50,000 employees worldwide, included several restaurant brands such as Boston Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Pret a Manger. He previously served the company as executive vice president and general counsel, responsible for both legal and corporate affairs.

Mr. Clark has been Merck's chief executive officer and president since May 2005. Prior to taking over the top management spot, he served as president of the Merck Manufacturing Division (MMD) from 2003-2005.

During his 34-year career with Merck, Mr. Clark has held a broad range of operating and strategic positions in manufacturing, managed care and quality control. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Medco Health Solutions from June 2002 to March 2003, and executive vice president and chief operating officer of Merck-Medco from 1997 to 2000. Under Mr. Clark's leadership, Medco Health emerged as a dominant company in the pharmacy benefits management industry. Before mastering managed care, Mr. Clark was senior vice president of quality commercial affairs at MMD. He began his career at Merck in 1972 as quality control inspector and industrial engineer.

Mr. Clark, in becoming chairman-elect of the PhRMA board, said he is "looking forward to working with Kevin and the PhRMA Board to pursue a constructive agenda for improving the U.S. health care system and expanding access to medicines."

"We must continue to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a regulatory and market environment that supports the work of the research- driven pharmaceutical industry," Mr. Clark said.

Mr. Brennan was named chief executive officer of AstraZeneca in January 2006. From 2001 through 2005 he was president and chief executive officer of AstraZeneca LP, the company's North America subsidiary. In 2005, Mr. Brennan was appointed executive board director of AstraZeneca, with responsibility for the United States, the company's largest market, as well as all North American operations.

Mr. Brennan, who began his career in 1975 as a sales representative at Merck, joined AstraMerck in 1992 to help build the joint venture into a multi- billion dollar business in the U.S. Prior to the AstraZeneca merger he oversaw business planning and development at Astra Pharmaceuticals, and was appointed senior vice president of commercial operations at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP in 1999. Mr. Brennan, an alumnus of Gettysburg College, is past board chairman of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Heart Association, and an honorary board member of the U.S. CEO Roundtable on Cancer.

"There are major healthcare issues facing our country today and I look forward to my new role as an officer on the PhRMA Board of Directors so that we can use our collective insight to help solve them," said David Brennan, CEO, AstraZeneca, PLC. "At AstraZeneca, we're working hard each day to bring innovative new medicines to market, but we're also working to harness our innovation to address issues like affordability and access. I know that we're not alone and I welcome the opportunity to work together with my colleagues," said Brennan.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $43 billion in 2006 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide research and investment reached a record $55.2 billion in 2006.

For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit: http://www.innovation.org

For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit: http://www.pparx.org

For information on the danger of imported drugs, visit: http://www.buysafedrugs.info

Contact: Karl Uhlendorf, +1-202-835-3460

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CONTACT: Karl Uhlendorf of PhRMA, +1-202-835-3460

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