Pharma heads meet in Athens
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will have meetings with 20 managing directors and five presidents of associations from the largest multinational biopharmaceutical groups worldwide on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The top executives of the global pharmaceutical industry are in Greece in the context of their biannual meeting, better known as the Biopharmaceutical CEOs Roundtable (BCR). They are the members of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), which represents more than 90 pharmaceuticals and associations around the world. Their meeting is being held in Greece following the initiative of Albert Bourla of Pfizer, who, thanks to his Greek origin, is chairing this event.
On Tuesday evening, a dinner will take place in a restaurant in the historical center of Athens, at which Mitsotakis will speak, while on Wednesday the group of CEOs will visit the prime minister at his office, where a more extensive discussion is expected.
The three topics set to be discussed are Greece’s potential to further increase research and development, to also further increase clinical studies conducted in the country, and to contribute to the international effort to make good use of artificial intelligence for the discovery of new beneficial drugs and vaccines.
In recent years, due to the digitization of a very large part of citizens’ medical data, Greece has access, with full protection of personal data, to a wealth of information that can be useful in the research and development of new drugs and vaccines. Israel has a similar database, which has contributed significantly to drug research and development.
The roundtable is a global policy forum organized every six months by the federation, where CEOs of member companies discuss global health policies affecting biomedical innovation. Federation members employ nearly 3 million scientists and employees, and discover, develop and deliver medicines and vaccines.
Besides Bourla, the CEOs participating include Boehringer-Ingelheim’s Hubertus von Baumbach, Christopher Boerner of BMS, Elcin Barker Ergun of Menarini, Robert Davis of MSD, and Joaquin Duato of Johnson & Johnson, along with industry association presidents and executives of IFPMA, JPMA, EFPIA and PhRMA.
