Rebecca Guntern (Sandoz) today begins an interim term as President of Medicines for Europe for a period of 3 months, as Christoph Stoller (Teva) steps down following his two-year mandate.

Christoph Stoller led the industry through the most challenging health care crisis in generations. Our industry coordinated with the EU to prevent shortages of emergency hospital medicines and to maintain the supply of essential medicines across Europe, at a time of unprecedented demand in the early phase of the pandemic.

As our companies scaled up production output by up to 900%, the association worked with the EU to reopen borders for the EU manufacturing supply chain, drive regulatory flexibility across borders while maintaining EU standards, and ensure full functioning of our factories for medicines supply during the pandemic. Christoph also helped the industry to prepare for the major upcoming review of EU pharmaceutical legislation, notably by leading discussions about manufacturing resilience and tackling the economic root causes of shortages. Christoph strongly encouraged the setup of the EU Structured Dialogue on Supply Security and Manufacturing.

Rebecca Guntern takes over following her two-year tenure as Vice-President of the association, during which time she has led on a range of initiatives, particularly improving patient access to biosimilar medicines and guiding the EU Structured Dialogue on resilient supply chains. She will lead the association until the Board can formally elect a new President in the New Year.

Commenting on the end of his term, Christoph Stoller said: “When I began my mandate as President of Medicines for Europe, I could never have known what awaited us with the outbreak of COVID-19. The industry mobilised like never before to deliver medicines despite huge spikes in demand. It was my privilege to lead the association during that time and I am very proud of what we achieved together, to avoid major shortages of essential ICU medicines in Europe and to secure continuous access to medicines for millions of European patients. I leave Medicines for Europe in the best of hands with Rebecca at the helm.”

Beginning her term, Rebecca Guntern said: “The pandemic has shaken our industry and our society to the core and revealed some clear gaps from the policy perspective. Beginning my term, I am looking forward to leading Medicines for Europe with a clear focus on flexible, pragmatic and patient-centric policies that will enable our industry to continue as the principal provider of life-saving medicines to patients in Europe.”