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Ipsen’s Marc de Garidel to chair Innovative Medicines Initiative Governing Board

24/03/2015

IMI is a public-private partnership (PPP) between the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). The biggest challenges in medicine cannot be tackled by any company, organisation or even country alone. IMI works by fostering collaborations between leading experts from industry, universities, small biotechs, patient groups, and regulators from across Europe. These collaborations are delivering exciting results in areas such as Alzheimer’s, infectious disease, diabetes, schizophrenia, and rheumatoid arthritis – all areas where there is an urgent need for safe, effective treatments.

The Governing Board is the main decision-making body of IMI, carrying overall responsibility for the operations of the organisation and overseeing the implementation of its activities. The make-up of the 10-strong Governing Board reflects the equal nature of the partnership; five members come from the European Commission, and five come from the European pharmaceutical industry. Rudolf Strohmeier of the European Commission is Deputy Chair of the Board.

Marc de Garidel, Chairman and CEO, Ipsen stated: ‘I am honoured to represent the healthcare industry in the biggest public-private partnership in life sciences in Europe to date and I am convinced the IMI 2 has a real potential to tackle Europe’s growing health challenges and deliver innovation for patients by working together and building on previous successes.’

Irene Norstedt, IMI Acting Executive Director said: ‘IMI is delighted to welcome Marc de Garidel as Chair of the Governing Board. I am confident that his decades of experience working in the pharmaceutical sector will prove invaluable to IMI.’

Marc de Garidel takes over the role of Chair from Roch Doliveux, former CEO of UCB, who retired at the end of 2014.

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Notes to Editors

For more information on the IMI Governing Board, visit the following link

Marc de Garidel is a graduate from the French Engineering School ESTP, and has an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School. Marc de Garidel started his career with Eli Lilly with various responsibilities in countries like the US, Germany, and France. Between 1995 and 2010, he held executive positions at Amgen including Corporate Controller of the group in the US as well as increasing line management responsibilities including the biggest region of Amgen International operations. Marc de Garidel joined Ipsen as Chairman and CEO in November 2010. He also holds a number of other visible positions for the industry: Chairman of the group of French healthcare companies (G5 santé), nominated by the French government as Vice-President of the French Healthcare Strategic Committee. Marc de Garidel is Vice-President of EFPIA, the European pharmaceutical trade association.

 

Press contact

  • Catherine Brett – External Relations Manager
    Tel: +32 2 541 8214 | Mobile: +32 484 896227 | E-mail: catherine.brett@imi.europa.eu

 

About the Innovative Medicines Initiative

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, innovative medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. It does this by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in healthcare research, including universities, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators.

IMI is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Through the IMI 2 programme, IMI has a budget of €3.3 billion for the period 2014-2024. Half of this comes from the EU’s research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020. The other half comes from large companies, mostly from the pharmaceutical sector; these do not receive any EU funding, but contribute to the projects ‘in kind’, for example by donating their researchers’ time or providing access to research facilities or resources.

 

About Ipsen

Ipsen is a global specialty-driven pharmaceutical company with total sales exceeding €1.2 billion in 2014. Ipsen’s ambition is to become a leader in specialty healthcare solutions for targeted debilitating diseases. Its development strategy is supported by 3 franchises: neurology, endocrinology and urology-oncology. Moreover, the Group has an active policy of partnerships. Ipsen's R&D is focused on its innovative and differentiated technological platforms, peptides and toxins. In 2014, R&D expenditure totaled close to €187 million, representing about 15% of Group sales. Moreover, Ipsen also has a significant presence in primary care. The Group has more than 4 500 employees worldwide. Ipsen’s shares are traded on segment A of Euronext Paris (stock code: IPN, ISIN code: FR0010259150) and eligible to the ‘Service de Règlement Différé’ (SRD). The Group is part of the SBF 120 index. Ipsen has implemented a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program, which trade on the over-the-counter market in the United States under the symbol IPSEY.

IMI2/OUT/2015-00763