FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2023
Washington, DC – At a time when preserving America’s leadership in life sciences innovation is more important than ever, We Work For Health (WWFH) is announcing Dan Leonard as its new executive director. Leonard brings more than two decades of relevant professional, healthcare supply chain experience in strategic planning, advocacy, policy and public affairs.
WWFH works to promote policies and initiatives that foster innovation and facilitate the delivery of lifesaving or life-enhancing medicines, while also highlighting the value of the related workforce and their broad contributions on the national, state and local levels.
“Having worked at the intersection of health policy, innovation and advocacy for more than 20 years, I have witnessed the incredible innovations that have been delivered across our healthcare system. That’s why I am pleased to accept this new role at such a pivotal time,” Leonard said. “In order to maintain America’s leadership position in medical breakthroughs that improve and save the lives of the millions of Americans facing health challenges, it’s imperative that we continue raising awareness of the immense value of the biopharmaceutical sector and all its related industries in both human and economic terms. “This includes the research, development, manufacturing and delivery of life-saving medicines – in short, building and maintaining the most robust life sciences ecosystem in the world for many years to come. I look forward to accomplishing this critical goal by continuing to bring together national and local business leaders, labor, biopharma, patient advocates and other healthcare-related stakeholders.”
As a former leader at the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), Leonard played a leadership role in the evolving areas of pharmaceutical value assessment, value-based contracting and the importance of maintaining a robust innovation ecosystem. The combination of his robust industry and policy background will serve as a steady guide as WWFH navigates a new frontier of biopharmaceutical evolution, and works to elevate the breadth of the ecosystem that delivers treatments and cures to patients and supports economies large and small across the U.S.
As executive director at WWFH, Leonard will guide the organization’s mission imperatives, which will include incentivizing research and development in the United States, both public and private; ensuring patients are able to access new and innovative medicines; supporting STEM education; sustaining a competitive generic medicines marketplace; and increasing U.S. manufacturing and productivity among other efforts to support American jobs.
“I have been around healthcare issues for most of my career, and I’ve seen these issues play out from multiple perspectives,” Leonard said. “The bottom line is that we can’t take the innovation cycle for granted on behalf of America’s patients who need that next breakthrough. At We Work For Health, we are committed to being here for patients now and in the future.”
For more information about WWFH and its initiatives, including new research on the broad implications on the biopharmaceutical industry and beyond, please visit: www.weworkforhealth.org.
MEDIA INQUIRIES: media@weworkforhealth.org
About We Work For Health
Since 2007, We Work For Health (WWFH) has been bringing together national and local business leaders, labor, biopharma, patient advocacy, and other healthcare-related stakeholders. WWFH is dedicated to promoting policies and initiatives that not only foster innovation and facilitate the delivery of lifesaving or life-enhancing medicines, but also value both the workforce and significant contributions of the biopharmaceutical sector to economies at the national, state, and local levels.
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