USA's PhRMA names John Castellani as new president/CEO; Berlin Pharma hires Pfizer SVP as CEO

The US drug industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has elected John Castellani as president and chief executive, effective September 1. Mr Castellani joins the PhRMA after more than nine years as president and CEO of Business Roundtable, a leading association of corporate chief executive officers. He will succeed former PhRMA president and CEO Billy Tauzin, who transitioned to a role as senior advisor earlier this year.

Mr Castellani has extensive experience in business, public affairs and government relations. As head of the Business Roundtable. He has worked alongside the nation's leading CEOs and with Members of Congress and Administration officials to drive economic growth and create opportunities for American workers and business.

Mr Tauzin, who helped broker an agreement with the White House during the US health care reform debate under which pharmaceutical companies will provide discounts that will reduce the USA's pharmaceutical spending by $80 billion over the next 10 years, resigned from the post earlier this year, amid disquiet over the deal, which is now costing drugmakers many millions in lost revenues (The Pharma Letter February 15).