Leadership

Over The Counter: Driving Innovation In France’s Self-Care Market, With NèreS’ Luc Besançon

 
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HBW Insight speaks to NèreS' executive director Luc Besançon about the key issues facing France's self-care industry, especially Rx-to-OTC switch and the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

People On The Move: Appointments at Hermes, Assosalute, Moberg

 
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A round up of the latest European consumer health exec moves: Hermes hires management board chair; Assosalute elects directors; Moberg appoints ex-Orkla Health CEO.

Non-User Fee Dollars Increased In US FDA’s Updated FY 2026 Budget Request

 

The budget authority total, which is significantly higher than the amount floated in an April OMB draft document, suggests there may have been successful lobbying to increase FDA funding.

People On The Move: Appointments At ANEPF, Inula, Opella

 
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A round-up of the latest consumer health people moves: ANEFP elects president; Inula Group appoints CEO; Opella names ANZ head.


In Blistering Criticism, Health Subcommittee Democrat Warns Of Kennedy’s ‘Toxic Brew’ Plans

 

Trump’s first-term public health appointees “were serious people doing serious work in a bipartisan nature,” but HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and other current presidential advisors “are not serious people,” says Massachusetts’ Jake Auchincloss.

MAHA Translates To ‘Change The Broken System’ At US FDA For Commissioner Makary

 

Among FDA's diversions from accepted practices is not going “through the bureaucracy” of advisory committees for experts’ input on potential changes to improve the safety and nutrition profile of food products, says Commissioner Martin Makary.

Commissioner Makary Outlines Expectations For US FDA: ‘Challenge Deeply Held Assumptions’

 

“It was a little hard to begin after the change or the reduction in force. We're doing everything we can to do an assessment, restore some services of individuals, and also try to rebuild the culture, because it is a great culture,” says FDA Commissioner Martin Makary during FDLI conference.

US FDA Restoring Some Library Resources

 

Agency staff once again have access to the Lexis-Nexis legal and news database, but are still waiting for access to journals, and laid off librarians have not been reinstated.


People On The Move: Appointments at Opella, NèreS, Haleon

 
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A round-up of the latest consumer health industry moves: Opella names France head; NèreS elects president; Haleon has new Saudi GM.

US Consumer Health Executive News: CHPA Regulatory SVP, Kenvue CFO, PLT Sales Head

 

Former FDA OTC division director joins CHPA; PLT Health names global sales chief; and Kenvue loses CFO to Mattel, hires replacement from Kellanova.

People On The Move: Appointments At Haleon, Wellnex, Orkla

 
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A round-up of the latest consumer health leadership changes: Haleon names Middle East & Africa unit manager; Wellnex Life appoints interim chair; Orkla Health appoints CEO.

Over The Counter: Everything You Wanted To Know About Real World Evidence, With IQVIA’s Volker Spitzer

 
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HBW Insight finds out all about real world evidence and its potential for the OTC industry by chatting with IQVIA Consumer Health's vice president of global research and development and real-world evidence services, Volker Spitzer.


Makary’s Reorganization Decision A Turning Point For US FDA?

 

US FDA Commissioner Martin Makary’s disavowal of a proposed reorganization plan may be an important turning point in the Trump Administration. The move does not improve the situation, but may mean the administration stops actively making things worse.

US FDA Retirements Continue Unabated With Drug Inspectorate Leaders, Former Chief Counsel

 

Alonza Cruse, director of the Office of Human and Animal Drugs Inspectorate, and two other senior inspection officials are departing, along with Mark Raza, chief counsel from 2021 until January.

FDA Leadership Shuffle Continues: Lowell Zeta Returns As OPDP, OGD Leaders Depart

 

Lowell Zeta, a senior counselor at the FDA from 2020 to 2021, returns as deputy commissioner for strategic initiatives. The agency also names a new acting CIO and acting CVM director, but OGD's Ted Sherwood and OPDP's Catherine Gray retired.

Over The Counter: Brands, Brexit And New Self-Care Business Models, With PAGB’s Michelle Riddalls

 
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HBW Insight catches up with UK OTC industry association CEO Michelle Riddalls to talk about digital self-care and the unrealized promise of Brexit - part 2.


Makary Suggests Combining All FDA Adverse Event Reporting Systems

 

In discussing FDA’s adverse event monitoring, Makary also seemed to falsely imply the agency did not fully investigate the myocarditis signal with COVID-19 vaccines.

Third GOP Seat On Federal Trade Commission Goes To Former DoJ Attorney During Trump’s First Term

 

Mark Meador most recently worked as a visiting fellow at conservative think tank Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center and worked during Trump’s first term as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. The two Democrat-appointee seats remain open while the members Trump recently fired contest his controversial decision.

Plenty For Industry To Do As EU Wastewater Directive Faces Legal Challenges

 
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Engaging with EU member state legislators, stressing the impact of national EPR systems on the accessibility, availability, and affordability of medicines, reformulating products to reduce their financial contribution, and lobbying for expanding the scope of EPR schemes to include other polluting industries are all ways that the European consumer health industry can try and influence the way that the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is transposed into national legislation, law firm Mason Hayes & Curran explains.

US FDA Staff’s Union President Calls For More Support From Industry

 

Industry should be more vocal about the harms the recent reduction-in-force will have on getting drugs to market, NTEU Chapter 282 President Anthony Lee said in an interview with Pink Sheet.