IFPMA @World Health Summit

Greg Perry

IFPMA Assistant Director General

Greg Perry joined IFPMA on 1st February 2018, and has responsibility for IFPMA’s external outreach and stakeholder engagement in global health topics including innovation, access, and the international regulatory environment. Greg Perry brought with him more than 20 years’ leadership and advocacy experience in the public healthcare arena.

Prior to joining IFPMA, Greg worked as Executive Director of the Medicines Patent Pool, which he joined in 2013 and as Director General of the European Generic Medicines Association (1999 - 2013) in Brussels. Previously he worked as a partner in a UK public affairs company as a European Union policy advisor to corporate and non-governmental organizations, and before that as a Parliamentary Advisor to Members of the European Parliament. Greg is a Member of the Advisory Council of the Organization for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (TOPRA) and is a former member of the Standing Advisory Committee before the European Patent Office (SACEPO). Greg also holds the Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

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Greg Perry

Assistant Director General

Dr. Mariângela Simão

World Health Organization (WHO), Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals | Assistant Director General

Dr Mariângela Batista Galvão Simão from Brazil is the WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals. Prior to this role, she was Director of Community Support, Social Justice and Inclusion at UNAIDS. In addition to her work at UNAIDS, she brings more than 30 years of experience working in the Brazilian public health system and has played an active role in enhancing access and decentralizing health services in the country.

Between 2006 and 2010, she served as Director of the National STD/AIDS and Viral Hepatitis Department in the Brazilian Ministry of Health, where she led successful price negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of HIV medication. During this time, she also represented the Brazilian Ministry of Health in the negotiations that led to the constitution of UNITAID in 2006, including its governing body, where she served as a board member until 2008. She was trained as a paediatrician in Brazil and holds an MSc degree in public health from University of London, United Kingdom.

Helen McGuire

PATH | Program Leader, Noncommunicable Diseases | United States of America

As PATH’s global program leader for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), Helen McGuire is responsible for overall leadership, strategic direction and business development, donor relations, and management and implementation of the NCD program at PATH. She provides leadership and technical guidance to our country programs to develop and implement their NCD work, including integration of hypertension into PEPFAR/USAID platform in Kenya, improving access to hypertension diagnosis and care in Vietnam, and building the evidence and advocating for availability of affordable essential medicines and technologies with early studies completed in Kenya and Senegal.
Ms. McGuire provides thought leadership to the global health field in the prevention and management of NCDs in low-resource settings. She also develops and helps facilitate effective external collaborations, including public/private partnership opportunities through industry engagement, and collaborations with individuals, donors, and organizations to achieve existing NCD project goals. She is a resource to local public health policymakers and planners in reviewing evidence and establishing policies and guidelines for NCD prevention and management programs.
Prior to joining PATH in 2013, Ms. McGuire served as acting director of policy and programs at the International Diabetes Federation, where she led strategy implementation for diabetes education and health systems in collaboration with national member associations and global leaders in diabetes. Helen has work experience in Kenya, Vietnam, China, India, Senegal, the United States, and Canada, and she has authored or coauthored several peer-reviewed publications.
Ms. McGuire holds a masters degree in health administration from the University of Toronto, Canada.

Subhanu Saxena

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Regional Director Life Science Europe | United States of America

Subhanu Saxena is currently Regional Director Life Science Partnerships, Europe at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Subhanu leads the Foundation’s industry engagement in Europe. In this capacity, he maintains and develops a deep understanding of the industry and the companies of primary interest to the Foundation. He sustains and enhances the Foundation’s relationships with current and emerging partners, identifying opportunities to augment their Global Health contributions.   He guides and supports teams who are engaged or are planning to engage with corporations in Europe. In addition, Subhanu is a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital and a managing partner in New Rhein Healthcare, investing in companies that bring innovation whilst reducing the cost to healthcare systems,
 
Subhanu is a highly accomplished global executive whose experience has spanned markets in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. He has worked in various industries including in Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Consulting & Banking.
 
Subhanu graduated with an MBA from INSEAD - France, Fontainebleau, and a MA (Hons) in Engineering Science from Oxford University, both with distinction. A citizen of the United Kingdom, and an India OCI cardholder, he is fluent in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, and has a good working knowledge of French, German and Russian.
 
Prior to his current role, Subhanu was with Cipla and was MD & Global CEO, from February 2013 to August 31, 2016. Cipla is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company with a presence in over 170 countries.
 
Prior to that, he was a member of Novartis' Pharmaceutical Executive Committee where he was Head of Global Product Strategy and Commercialisation, and was responsible for marketing, sales, global medical affairs, and health economics. He assumed this role after a 4 year stint as Novartis' UK Pharma CEO & Country President.
He has also worked with Citigroup, Boston Consulting Group and Pepsi Co Inc. Subhanu’s early industry experience includes developing entry and growth strategies for Pepsi. He is an Associate Director for Inspiros Worldwide, a leadership coaching and advisory firm that helps organisations build purpose-led strategies.
 
On the non-professional side, Subhanu loves loud music and Sanskrit and Vedanta teaching. Subhanu is a lecturer / teacher of Sanskrit and ancient Indian literature, and has a love for Urdu poetry. He also plays classical guitar and is an Executive Committee Member of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, UK.

Frédérique Santerre

Merck Serono SA | Access to Health | Global Head | Switzerland

Frédérique Santerre is Global Head of Access to Health, responsible for establishing a new crossfunctional unit and leading global health and innovative access programs and initiatives internationally at Merck Group. She is in charge of CEO and senior management leadership engagement in global health and is responsible for the company’s representation and activities at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the Gates CEO Roundtable for Global Health and with global health stakeholders (e.g. UN, WHO, Global Fund, funders and philanthropies, NGOs, academia, think tanks and patients) on global health and access-related issues.

In her previous position, as Head of Global Government Affairs and Health Policy, she was responsible for government affairs and public policy globally for Merck Serono, the pharmaceutical division of the Merck Group. She joined Merck Serono in 2010 as Director, Global Health Policy and Patient Advocacy, operating globally (ex-USA).

Prior to her arrival at Merck Serono, she was Director of the Health Care Systems & Global Health Policy at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). She also held various positions in international organisations (e.g. the World Health Organisation), in academia (e.g. Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA) and in nongovernmental organizations (e.g. the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and Médecins du Monde). In addition, she worked for the World Economic Forum (Davos).

As a post-doctoral Research Fellow and Faculty member at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in the Science, Technology and Society Program in Cambridge, MA, she ran two multidisciplinary research projects on biotechnology regulation as well as provided mentorship to doctoral students. In parallel, she ran global health and public-private partnership consultancies with UN organisations.

Frédérique Santerre was born in Paris, France, and obtained a degree in economics from the Sorbonne University, master degrees in comparative politics from Glasgow University and in international relations from Geneva Graduate Institute, and her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies. Her doctoral dissertation was on the global governance of biotechnology.

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Dr. Jayasree Iyer

Access to Medicine Foundation | Executive Director | Netherlands

Jayasree K. Iyer leads the Access to Medicine Foundation as Executive Director. She directs the Foundation’s strategy, its stakeholder dialogues and research programmes. As a spokesperson, she is actively involved in stimulating change within the pharmaceutical industry.
Jayasree joined the Foundation in 2013 to build up its in-house research expertise and to lead the development and application of its methodology for measuring company behaviour. She has worked at the interface of the global health community and the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years. Before joining the Foundation, Jayasree was responsible for creating, negotiating and managing public private partnerships in R&D for infectious diseases and oncology. She has worked at NGOs, academic institutions and think tanks, and holds various postgraduate degrees (Masters and PhD) from Singapore and the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Prof. Dr. Gerald Yonga

East Africa NCD Alliance | Chair | Kenya

Gerald has been involved in NCD advocacy internationally for more than 18 years. He is founder Chair of NCD Alliance Kenya, East Africa NCD Alliance and Africa NCD Alliances Network and a Board member of The NCD Alliance (Global).
He was instrumental in advocacy for the setting up of NCD unit in MOH in Kenya in 2001 and was member of national steering committee on NCD research and policy under Kenya Medical Research institute (KEMRI) from 2003 to 2010. He led the formation of a multi-sectoral and multi disciplinary civil society group that worked closely with MOH to coordinate Kenya’s participation in the UNHLM on NCDs in 2011 and in developing the Kenya NCD Policy and Action Plan which was eventually launched in 2015. He was also a member of the steering group who coordinated the WHO STEPs survey in Kenya. He is a member of the global steering commitee of the NIH/Forgarty PEPFAR project which has been researching and advocating for integration of NCD prevention and care into the HIV PEPFAR platform in LMIC; now being piloted globally. He has attended and made NCD advocacy presentations at numerous regional (East African Community, African Union, WHO Afro) meetings, WHO World Assembly meetings, UN General Assembly CSO hearing in 2014 and many professional society meetings around the world. Gerald is credited for the formation and coordination of strong NCD movement in Africa, is a strong global advocate for NCD action in LMIC and a consultant for innovative solutions and evidence for policy and action on NCDs.

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler

President, Robert Koch Institute

Prof. Lothar H. Wieler is president of the Robert Koch Institute, the National Public Health Institute in Germany. The RKI is in charge of health monitoring and surveillance as well as pandemic preparedness. In addition, its task is prevention and recognition of attacks with biological agents as well as infection outbreaks. Lothar H. Wieler has focused his research on zoonoses, particular on molecular mechanisms, enabling bacterial pathogens to infect different hosts, and develop antibiotic resistance. By genome analyses and functional experiments the pathogens´ evolution and adaption to different habitats are unraveled. He is author/co-author of more than 220 peer-reviewed papers. Lothar H. Wieler is deputy spokesperson of the intersectoral research consortium InfectControl 2020. Within InfectControl 2020, he heads the IRMRESS and Neobiom research networks. He also is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), the WHO Europe Advisory Committee on Health Research (EACHR), and the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards (STEG-IH). Since 2010, he is an elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences.

Thomas B. Cueni

Director-General, IFPMA

Thomas B. Cueni is Director General of IFPMA since 1 February 2017. Prior to joining IFPMA he was Secretary General of Interpharma, the association of pharmaceutical research companies in Switzerland. For many years Thomas Cueni has been involved in the work of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, EFPIA, where he most recently served as Vice-Chair of the European Markets Committee and association representative on the Board. He represented the industry on the EU High Level Pharmaceutical Forum, was Chairman of EFPIA’s Economic and Social Policy Committee and Chairman of the EFPIA Task Force on the EU Commission’s Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry. Thomas Cueni also represented Interpharma, which he successfully transformed from the association of Swiss Rx companies to the association of pharmaceutical research companies in Switzerland, on the Council of IFPMA. Prior to his appointment with Interpharma, Thomas Cueni had a career as a journalist, inter alia as London correspondent for the “Basler Zeitung” and “Der Bund”, and he served as a Swiss career diplomat with postings in Paris (OECD) and Vienna (IAEA, UNIDO). He studied at the University of Basle, the London School of Economics, and the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies, and has Master degrees in economics (University of Basel) and politics (London School of Economics, LSE).

Prof. Dr. Jeremy Farrar

Director, Wellcome Trust

Jeremy Farrar is Director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation (both politically and financially independent) which exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive Jeremy is a clinician scientist who before joining Wellcome was, for eighteen years, Director of the Clinical Research Unit in Viet Nam, where his research interests were in infectious diseases, tropical health and emerging infections. He has contributed to almost 600 peer-reviewed scientific papers and served on several global advisory committees. He currently chairs the WHO Blueprint R&D Scientific Advisory Group. Jeremy was appointed OBE in 2005 for services to Tropical Medicine, and he has been awarded the Memorial Medal and Ho Chi Minh Medal from the Government of Vietnam. In 2015 he was recognised by Fortune magazine as 12th in the top 50 of the World’s Greatest Leaders. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine USA and a Fellow of The Royal Society.

Prof. Dr. Rolf Müller

Managing Director and Head of Department of Microbial Natural Products (MINS), Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)

Prof. Dr. Rolf Müller studied Pharmacy at the University of Bonn from 1986-1990, received his approbation as a pharmacist in 1991 and finished his PhD on a pharmaceutical-microbiological topic in 1994. From 1996-1997 he spent two years as a DFG research scholar at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA and returned to Germany in 1998 as a junior group leader at the former German Research Centre for Biotechnology (GBF). In 2000, he completed his habilitation thesis at the Technical University Braunschweig about the biosynthesis of antibiotics in actinomycetes and myxobacteria. Since October 2003, Rolf Müller holds a chair as professor of pharmaceutical biotechnology at Saarland University and in 2009 he became managing director of the newly founded Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS). Furthermore, he heads the department of “Microbial Natural Products” (MINS) and co-founded the PharmBioTec GmbH in Saarbrücken. Rolf Müller’s research is dedicated to the chemistry and biology of microbial natural products with an emphasis on myxobacteria. Using an interdisciplinary research setting his group focusses on the identification, modification and pharmaceutical development of new anti-infectives exhibiting innovative mode of action. Rolf Müller received the Phoenix-Pharmacy Research Award (2001, 2007, and 2016), the DECHEMA Award for Natural Products Research (2002), the BioFuture Award of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (2003) and the DECHEMA Award of the Max-Buchner Research Foundation (2010). He was elected member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) in 2012 and member of the National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) in 2016. In May 2018, Rolf Müller received the Inhoffen Medal which is awarded by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Technical University (TU) Braunschweig.

Dr. Georg Schütte

State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Dr. Georg Schütte holds the position of the State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. He completed degrees in journalism at the Dortmund University and the City University of New York. He is a Fulbright Alumnus and was –among others- Visiting Fellow at Harvard University. After completing his PhD he started his career at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn. From 2001-2003 he was Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in Berlin.