With ABPI move, Carole Longson lets go of purse strings and starts tugging at them

A long-standing leader in health technology assessment (HTA) in the UK and internationally has taken a step across the divide to become a leading lobbyist for pharma.

As director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation for cost-effectiveness watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Carole Longson has long been concerned with saving money for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as it adopts new medicines.

After being with NICE for 18 years, she is moving to become the chief scientific officer (CSO) of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), the trade group for pharma in the UK and a long-term campaigner for more money to be invested into funding innovative medical research.