Thomas Cueni has IFPMA since 2017, during which time he has been instrumental in establishing cross sectoral programs designed to tackle the biggest global health challenges.
This includes establishing the $1bn AMR Action Fund to support the development of new antibiotics; as Chair of the AMR Alliance; as a member of the Board of City Cancer Challenge; and as the industry’s representative on the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.
Leading the IFPMA through the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas galvanised the industry to develop the Berlin Declaration – the pharmaceutical industry’s blueprint to deliver equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics in future pandemics. Thomas is Chair of the Business at OECD Health Committee and serves as Industry Co-Chair of the APEC Biopharmaceutical Working Group on Ethics.
Prior to joining IFPMA, Thomas was Secretary General of Interpharma, the trade association representing Switzerland’s research-based pharmaceutical industry; Secretary of the Dolder Group, precursor of what’s now the BCR; and served on the Board of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Thomas began his career as a journalist, as London correspondent for the Basler Zeitung and Der Bund, before serving as a Swiss diplomat in Paris (OECD) and Vienna (IAEA, UNIDO).
Thomas has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Basel and another in politics from the London School of Economics. He also studied at the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies.
I am a firm believer in finding common ground to tackle global health challenges. It is this aim for shared solutions that motivates everything IFPMA does.
More from Thomas
#AlwaysInnovating: The importance of pharmaceutical innovation
Since I joined the pharmaceutical industry over 35 years ago, we have seen incredible scientific progress in how we diagnose, prevent, and treat disease. A new generation of cancer treatments have transformed outcomes for patients. We’ve seen mRNA vaccines developed in response to the COVID pandemic, and personalized medicines have become a reality for patients...
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An ambitious World Health Assembly aims to get global health back on track
The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) was the first since the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. My WHA kicked off with IFPMA colleagues at the WHO Walk the Talk, which was a healthy start to a busy week ahead. The agenda saw a focus...
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The power of partnerships and innovation: Accelerating progress toward Universal Health Coverage by 2030
In a blog for PharmaBoardroom, Thomas Cueni shares his views on the innovative pharmaceutical industry’s role in bringing critical solutions to accelerate progress toward UHC, from lab to the last mile.
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