DIA Appoints Two Co-chairs for EuroMeeting

A Polish legal expert and the German/Canadian President of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations will be the co-chairs of the next Drug Information Association (DIA) EuroMeeting, to be held in Paris on April 13-15, 2015.

On its web site, DIA has posted brief biographical details about the two co-chairs:

• Lidia Retkowska-Mika, Director, Legal Department, Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products, Poland. A graduate of the Legal and Administration Department, University of Warsaw, Poland, she has considerable experience in international health issues, especially in collaborative projects with the United States, Canada, and the World Health Organization. Since the accession of Poland to the EU in 2004, she represented Poland as an expert in the Council Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices working on the EU pharmaceutical legislation proposals. She has also participated in the activities of the Heads of Agencies and has been a member of the European Medicines Agencies Cooperation on Legal and Legislative Issues (EMACOLEX).

• Christopher A. Viehbacher, Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi. He is also chairman of Genzyme, which Sanofi acquired in February 2011, and a board member and member of the Strategy Committee. Having worked in finance at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, he joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 1988, and was President, Pharmaceutical Operations North America. He was elected president of the EFPIA in June 2013, and was chairman of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America PhRMA between 2010 and 2012. Since February 2011, he has been chair of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. He received the French Legion of Honor in 2003 and the 2012 Pasteur Foundation Award, and is a member of International Business Council (WEF) and the Board of Visitors of Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He is a certified public accountant and a graduate of Queens University (Ontario - Canada), and holds German and Canadian nationalities.