Rx-360, formed in 2009 to support an industry-wide commitment to ensuring patient safety by enhancing quality and authenticity throughout the supply chain has announced the election of new Officers and members to the Board of Directors.

Brian Johnson, Senior Director Supply Chain Security at Pfizer, and Guy Villax, Chief Executive at Hovione, have been elected to serve as the Rx-360 Chair and Vice Chair (2013-2015), respectively. Lynne Byers, Vice President, Quality at GSK, has completed tenures as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Consortium and will continue to play a leadership role as the Immediate Past Chair. Martin VanTrieste, Senior Vice President, Quality at Amgen, will continue to serve as the Rx-360 Treasurer.

Additionally, the following six individuals have been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors: Alan Burns (Sartorius Stedim Biotech), Frithjof Holtz (Merck KGaA), Lynne Byers (GSK), Joseph Famulare (Genentech), Mark Paviglianti (Merck), Wes Schmidt (AbbVie). The members of Rx-360 welcome these individuals to the Board of Directors, and look forward to working with them as they continue to share their experience, expertise, good will and leadership with this important and unique industry initiative.

Directors remaining on the Board include: Janice Berman (Takeda), Heike Falkenhagen (Boehringer Ingelheim), Hubertus Folttmann (BASF), Jaspreet Gill (Baxter), Patricia Latzo (Mylan), Elizabeth Pileggi (Teva), Melissa Seymour (Biogen Idec), Tom Beil (Sigma Aldrich), Gordon Whittle (AstraZeneca), Martin VanTrieste (Amgen) and Thomas Crispin (Bayer).

The mission of the organization is timely in light of growing attacks and threats to an increasingly complex and global supply chain. Millions of people around the world are treated every day with the vital medicines that pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies provide. Management of the pharmaceutical supply chain has become one of the top public health concerns with respect to consumer safety. The globalization of distribution for both drug components and finished products has introduced many complications that Rx-360 is positioned to help resolve.