Richard T. Clark Becomes New PhRMA Chairman

Washington, DC (Mar. 28)-At its annual meeting, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) elected Richard T. Clark, CEO and president of Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, NJ), chairman of its board. Clark succeeds Kevin Sharer, chairman, CEO, and president of Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA), in this position.

Clark became Merck’s CEO and president in May 2005 and chairman of the company’s board of directors in April 2007. During his time with Merck, Clark has held various positions in manufacturing, managed care, and quality control. He was chairman and CEO of Medco Health Solutions from June 2002 to March 2003 and executive vice-president and COO of Merck-Medco from 1997 to 2000. Clark began working at Merck in 1972 as quality-control inspector and industrial engineer.

“This is a time of real challenge and change for the industry and one of real opportunity as well,” Clark said in a PhRMA press release. “Millions of people live longer and better as a result of the inspired and dedicated work of our employees, yet we still need to do more and set the bar for ourselves even higher. We must work together with our stakeholders to create more transparency and build more trust.”

At the meeting, PhRMA also selected David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca (London), as chairman-elect of its board of directors. The organization chose Jeffrey B. Kindler, chairman and CEO of Pfizer (New York), as its board treasurer.

In addition, PhRMA welcomed several new full members to its board. The new members are Mark Booth, North America president of Takeda Pharmaceuticals (Osaka, Japan); Gregg Lapointe, COO of Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals (Gaithersburg, MD); and Jeffrey S. Aronin, president and CEO of Ovation Pharmaceuticals (Deerfield, IL).

Wyeth’s (Madison, NJ) President and CEO Bernard Poussot, Eli Lilly’s (Indianapolis, IN) President and COO John C. Lechleiter, and GlaxoSmithKline’s (London) President of US Pharmaceuticals Chris Viehbacher also joined PhRMA’s board.