ARLINGTON, VA – Michael Reilly, executive director of the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM) today announced pediatric rheumatologist and current ASBM International Advisory Board (IAB) member, Harry L. Gewanter, MD, FAAP, FACR as ASBM’s incoming chairman. In addition, Philip Schneider, MS, FASHP, Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy will serve as the International Advisory Board Chair. Dr. Schneider has served on the ASBM advisory board since September 2012.
“As a member of our International Advisory Board for three years, Dr. Gewanter has been instrumental in helping to craft ASBM’s policy recommendations and has taken an active role in its policy development and education efforts,” said Reilly. “We are excited for Dr. Gewanter to take a more prominent role within the organization and utilize his expertise to forward ASBM’s mission.”
Dr. Gewanter succeeds outgoing chairman Richard Dolinar, MD, who served as ASBM’s initial chairman since 2011. Dolinar has testified before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Nonproprietary Naming Consultation, as well as appeared as a global keynote speaker.
“Dr. Dolinar oversaw the creation, growth and maturation of ASBM — from an organization focused on shaping the biosimilar approval pathway in the United States to an internationally recognized voice that speaks for patient’s with serious chronic illnesses and the physicians who care for them,” said Dr. Gewanter. “During his tenure, Dr. Dolinar has assisted regulatory bodies as they craft international standards for biosimilars. I look forward to continuing his work as chairman and elevating the voice of patients and physicians in global regulatory decisions to provide patients and physicians additional safe and effective treatment options and greater transparency as biosimilars enter the marketplace.”
“Dr. Dolinar has been an outstanding leader in the education of physicians, patients and policymakers alike in the relatively new arena of biologics and biosimilars,” stated Reilly. “Under his leadership, our membership and impact has grown and we are grateful for his guidance of ASBM.”
Philip Schneider, will also serve ASBM in a new capacity as IAB Chair. During his tenure on ASBM’s Advisory Board, Dr. Schneider has helped educate policymakers on the importance of developing biosimilar policies that encourage collaboration between pharmacists and physicians.
“Pharmacists have an important role to play in the discussion of how biosimilars are treated and we are also the linchpin between patients and the medicines they take, ” stated Schneider. “I look forward to ensuring the pharmacy setting is equipped with the regulations needed to both ensure the safe administration of biosimilars, as well as provide access to potentially lower-cost alternatives to patients.”
Dr. Gewanter and Dr. Schneider will continue ASBM’s global advocacy for policies aimed at ensuring that patients worldwide receive the biologic they were prescribed, that biosimilars are held to high standards of safety and efficacy, and that these medicines can be reliably tracked for adverse events. Gewanter and Schneider will assume their positions on September 1.
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