Dan Leonard formerly president and CEO of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) has been named new president and CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), members of the AAM board announced on Aug. 25.
“During our search for a CEO, AAM has been ably led by its Senior Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Francer, and we thank him for taking on the additional responsibilities,” Carol Lynch, vice chair of the AAM Board of Directors said on the organization’s website. "We are confident that Dan will lead the association’s talented team to support our work with the administration and Congress to further secure the pharmaceutical supply chain and create market conditions that will ensure the long-term viability of the generic and biosimilars industry.”
The report said Leonard had been instrumental at the NPC in developing data so government policymakers could make informed decisions about health care access and value. Prior to his NPC post, Leonard was the executive vice president of advocacy and professional services for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association that represented health insurance carriers across the U.S.
In addition to his expertise in matters of health care, Leonard was also touted for his media communications skills with 20 years of experience in dealing with legislators and corporate managers, political figures and broadcast media personnel.
Leonard, a resident of Annapolis, Maryland, is married with two children.
He will take over his new duties with the AAM this month, the report said.
Based in Washington D.C., the AAM is tasked with improving patient and resident access to safe, quality and effective medicines under its slogan, “We’re all patients at some point.”
The association’s three stated goals on the AAM website are to decrease the cost of currently existing drugs and to develop new effective drugs that people can afford. In addition, the goal is to increase competition among manufacturers so patients have more choices and to bring effective drugs from the lab to market.
For every 10 prescriptions made in the U.S., nine come from a manufacturer who is a member of the AAM, the website said.
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