Eli Lilly’s Christian Nguyen Elected National Pharmaceutical Council Board Chair
For Immediate Release: December 18, 2023
Contact: Michael Pratt, 202-827-2088, mpratt@npcnow.org
Washington, D.C. – The National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) announced that Christian Nguyen, PharmD, MBA, MS, Senior Vice President, Value, Evidence and Outcomes, Eli Lilly and Company, has been elected Chair of NPC’s Board of Directors for 2023 - 2024. Dr. Nguyen served on NPC’s Board as Treasurer and Vice Chair in the previous term and has served in other board roles since 2021.
“Christian brings deep expertise and keen insights to the challenges and opportunities the biopharmaceutical industry faces and understands the importance of clear, relevant, and timely evidence to help healthcare decision-makers,” said John M. O’Brien, PharmD, MPH, President and Chief Executive Officer. “She has been an invaluable partner since I joined NPC in July of 2021, bringing a special knack for cutting through the noise and bringing clarity to complex issues. As NPC enters its 70th year, I am excited and grateful for her leadership as chair.”
Dr. Nguyen has been with Eli Lilly and Company since 1999 and has held multiple roles across Lilly in sales, clinical development, and health outcomes research. Her commitment to HEOR has led to her current role, where she oversees the company’s efforts to generate the evidence and examine the outcomes associated with their products and to equip decision-makers with the evidence they need to understand the value of their treatments, to the health system and to patients.
“Over my career at Lilly, I have been fortunate enough to work on medicines to treat breast cancer, diabetes, and mental illness. The therapeutic benefits of these treatments for patients can be transformative, but patients must first have access to medicines if they are to achieve the desired outcomes,” said Dr. Nguyen. “My work with NPC has been so rewarding because it is geared to help decision-makers ground their efforts in the evidence needed to craft sustainable coverage solutions that work for patients. As Board Chair, I am looking forward to helping NPC generate studies and analyses that can answer health policy questions that will support an ecosystem of innovation.”
Nguyen earned her Doctor of Pharmacy and master's in business administration from Mercer University, and a master's in finance and financial planning from Golden Gate University.
NPC’s Board of Directors also elected other members to its executive committee, including:
- Jan E. Hansen, PhD, Vice President, Evidence for Access, Genentech, Inc. (Vice Chair)
- Rekha Ramesh, MPP, Vice President, Head of Policy, Gilead Sciences (Treasurer)
- Christine Marsh, MBA, Senior Vice President, Value & Access, Boehringer Ingelheim (Immediate Past Chair);
- Jeremy Allen, Head, Government Affairs, Spark Therapeutics (Member-At-Large)
In addition to the executive committee, the Board of Directors made an appointment to a Board-level committee: Chris Leibman, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Value, Access, Public Policy and Government Affairs of Biogen, will serve as chair of the Board-Level Research Committee.
“Health policy decisions may aim to solve singular problems, but it is critical to recognize that ‘solutions’ reverberate across a complex, interconnected health system,” said O’Brien. “The caliber of NPC’s board leadership makes me confident in and excited about our growing portfolio of work and our ability to provide incisive research and analysis that keeps the interests of patients at the center of the discussion in our 70th year and beyond.”
About the National Pharmaceutical Council
The National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) is a health policy research organization dedicated to the advancement of good evidence and science, and to fostering an environment in the United States that supports medical innovation. Founded in 1953 and supported by the nation's major research-based pharmaceutical companies, NPC focuses on research development, information dissemination and education on the critical issues of evidence, innovation and the value of medicines for patients. For more information, visit www.npcnow.org and follow NPC on LinkedIn.