Wikipedia

Thomas Cueni

Thomas Beat Cueni (born 1953) a Swiss public affairs executive and public policy advocate, former journalist, and diplomat known for his contributions to the pharmaceutical industry. He served as the Secretary General and Managing Director of Interpharma from 1988 to 2017[1][2] and as Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) from 2017 to 2024.[3][4][5]

Thomas Cueni
Born
Thomas Beat Cueni

1953
Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
Alma materUniversity of Basel
London School of Economics and Political Science
Occupation(s)Lobbyist, Former journalist, Diplomat
Children1

Education

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Cueni studied economics at the University of Basel, earning an M.A. in 1979, and political science at the London School of Economics, where he obtained an M.Sc. in 1981.[6]

Career

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Cueni began his career as a journalist, working for the Basler Zeitung[7] and the Bund in London.[6]

From 1983 to 1988, Cueni worked as a diplomat for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.[8] His diplomatic assignments included representing Switzerland at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris,[9][10] and serving roles at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)[11] and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna.[6][12]

In 1988, Cueni was appointed Secretary General and Managing Director of Interpharma, the trade body representing the pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland.[13][14][15][16][17] During his tenure, he represented the industry at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA),[18] serving on its board and chairing the Economic and Social Policy Committee (ESPC).[7][14][19][20][21] Cueni has run campaigns influencing Swiss parliament in favor of the pharmaceutical industry,[22][23][24] defeating referendums on issues that undermine innovation such as the Gene Protection Initiative, the Transplantation Act, the Medicines Act, and the Reproduction Initiative.[23][7][25][26] He also chaired a pharmaceutical task force addressing European Commission Inquiry into pharmaceutical.[27][6][28]

In 2017, Cueni became the Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) in Geneva.[3][29][30][31][32][33]

Contributions

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Cueni is an active member of several global health organizations, including the World Health Summit Council,[34] the World Trade Organization (WTO) DG Business Advisory Council,[35][9] and served on the 100 Day Mission Steering Group,[36][37] and the Advisory Committee of the Global Health Multistakeholder Dialogue: From Hiroshima to Puglia[38] and ACT-Accelerator Principals Group.[39]

Cueni has shaped the pharmaceutical industry's response to health crises, including AIDS/HIV and the COVID-19 pandemic.[40][41][42] He has advocated for equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics, presenting proposals to G7 and G20 member states to ensure timely delivery to vulnerable populations in low-income countries.[41][43][44] His efforts contributed to the endorsement of the Berlin Declaration a proposal for equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics in future pandemics by various stakeholders in 2022.[44][45]

Since 2020, Cueni has been vocal rebutting suggestions that intellectual property (IP) rights are hindering the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has argued against calls for waivers on intellectual property of medical countermeasures in response to COVID-19 at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Council.[46][47][48][49] Cueni has subsequently called the TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 treatments as a “mind-bogglingly stupid" idea and intellectual property waiver "potentially undermining what worked so well in this pandemic”.[50][51]

His writing on the issue of innovation, IP and equity include opinion columns and commentary for publications The New York Times,[52] The Financial Times,[53][54] The Daily Telegraph,[55] The Lancet,[56] Project Syndicate,[57] and STAT.[58]

On the issue of the International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response or Pandemic Treaty and sharing virus data; Cueni is quoted in Nature calling out the “serious politicization of pathogen sharing” and in Agence France Presse AFP he states that he is “concerned that decisions could be taken that we come to regret in a future pandemic. The innovation system and rapid access to pathogens were both crucial in enabling the pharmaceutical industry to develop new vaccines, treatments and diagnostics in response to Covid-19".

Cueni led initiatives to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and established the AMR Action Fund with close to $1 billion funding[46] from biopharmaceutical companies.[57][11][59] He urged G7 countries to incentivize the commercialization of new antibiotics.[60][57]

Through Access Accelerated, Cueni secured seed funding for the City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) network[61] to improve access to treatments for non-communicable diseases.[31][62][63]

In media

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Cueni has appeared in numerous media interviews and debates, including Intelligence Squared[64][65][66] and the Munk Debate,[67] and on news programs such as RTS,[68] BBC Newsnight,[69] CNN International with Becky Anderson.[70]

Personal life

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Thomas Cueni resides in Basel, Switzerland.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Internet extract - Commercial Register of the Canton of Basel-Stadt".
  2. ^ "Interpharma employees on the organization's website".
  3. ^ a b "Thomas Cueni appointed Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations". presseportal.ch (in German). 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  4. ^ "IFPMA's Thomas Cueni to retire in April 2024, with Dr. David Reddy succeeding him as Director General". IFPMA. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  5. ^ "Press Release - Meeting Government Pharmaceutical Industry" (PDF).
  6. ^ a b c d "Curriculum vitae of Thomas Cueni for the Swiss Public Health Conference 2012" (PDF).
  7. ^ a b c Mensch, Christian (2014-01-19). "Thomas B. Cueni – Switzerland's pharmaceutical general". bz Basel (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  8. ^ "Thomas B. Cueni - Health Forum". web.archive.org. 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  9. ^ a b "Thomas Cueni Authors | Devex". www.devex.com. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  10. ^ "OECD temporary archive". web-archive.oecd.org. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  11. ^ a b "Thomas B. Cueni – AMR Conference". Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  12. ^ "Thomas Cueni - IFPMA". web.archive.org. 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  13. ^ a b Feldges, Dominik (2024-04-15). "Pharma lobbyist Thomas Cueni: "There were certainly excesses in the past"". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  14. ^ a b "Eurohealth" (PDF).
  15. ^ "About the Berne Declaration" (PDF).
  16. ^ "Country Report: Switzerland". Pharmaceutical Executive. Pharmaceutical Executive-11-01-2016. 36. 2016-11-01.
  17. ^ "Handelsregister des Kantons Basel-Stadt". web.archive.org. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  18. ^ "Conference Report - Pharmaceutical Forum Delivering for Patients" (PDF).
  19. ^ PharmaTimes (2007-06-04). "Counterfeit crisis grows as fake Casodex is discovered - PharmaTimes". pharmatimes.com. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  20. ^ "Big pharma expresses relief over EU inquiry". www.euractiv.com. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  21. ^ EFPIA (2009-07-16). Thomas B. Cueni comments on the outcomes of the EC Sector Inquiry into pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 2024-07-07 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ "Animal Testing Perspectives". Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  23. ^ a b Daum, Matthias (2009-07-23). "The politician whisperer". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  24. ^ "Gfs-Gesundheitsmonitor 2015". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  25. ^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I. (2015-03-22). "Swiss support bilateral treaties with the EU". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  26. ^ "Interview: Thomas Cueni – Secretary General, Interpharma, Switzerland". PharmaBoardroom. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  27. ^ "Pharmaceutical sector inquiry - European Commission". competition-policy.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  28. ^ EFPIA (2009-07-16). Thomas B. Cueni comments on the outcomes of the EC Sector Inquiry into pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 2024-07-15 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ Voigt, Birgit (2024-02-10). "Thomas Cueni is the best networker in Switzerland". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  30. ^ Filho, Calixto Salomão; Ido, Vitor Henrique Pinto (2022). Correa, Carlos M.; Hilty, Reto M. (eds.). "Courts and Pharmaceutical Patents: From Formalist Positivism to the Emergence of a Global Law". Access to Medicines and Vaccines. Cham: Springer International Publishing: 201–239. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83114-1_8. ISBN 978-3-030-83114-1.
  31. ^ a b "Perspectives on access to medicines and IP rights". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  32. ^ "How drugmakers face global push-back on high prices".
  33. ^ "EMEA Healthcare Newsletter- February 2019" (PDF).
  34. ^ "Leadership - World Health Summit". www.worldhealthsummit.org. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  35. ^ "Business Advisory Group". www.wto.org (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  36. ^ "Second 100 Day Mission Implementation Report – IPPS". Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  37. ^ "Cueni: "Strong campaign leadership was certainly missing"".
  38. ^ "Global Health Multistakeholder Dialogue: From Hiroshima to Puglia". JCIE. 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  39. ^ "ACT-Accelerator Reflections Compendium" (PDF).
  40. ^ "Innovation and equity: at the core of future pandemic responses". IFPMA. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  41. ^ a b "Health at the UN General Assembly: Innovation and equity for pandemic preparedness". IFPMA. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  42. ^ "Pharma execs say several COVID vaccine options needed | CIDRAP". www.cidrap.umn.edu. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  43. ^ Cueni, Thomas (2023-10-09). "PROMOTED CONTENT: IFPMA: Innovation and equity: at the core of future pandemic responses". The Global Governance Project. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  44. ^ a b B. Cueni, Thomas (2022-07-24). "Poorer nations need assurances of dedicated vaccine supplies before the next pandemic". STAT. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  45. ^ "Thomas Cueni, IFPMA | Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance". www.gavi.org. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  46. ^ a b "Pharma industry commits $1bn to fight drug-resistant superbugs". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  47. ^ "Africa wants to produce a coronavirus vaccine — and Big Pharma's not happy". POLITICO. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  48. ^ "Covid: Germany rejects US-backed proposal to waive vaccine patents". 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  49. ^ Meredith, Sam (2021-04-22). "Rich countries are refusing to waive the rights on Covid vaccines as global cases hit record levels". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  50. ^ "Pharma lobby blasts 'stupid' pandemic patent plans". RFI. 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  51. ^ "How can more covid-19 vaccines be made available?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  52. ^ Cueni, Thomas (2020-12-10). "Opinion | The Risk in Suspending Vaccine Patent Rules". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  53. ^ "Intellectual property is not a hindrance but a help to end Covid-19". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  54. ^ "Drugs companies are rising to the challenges of research into superbugs". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  55. ^ Davies, Professor Dame Sally; Cueni, Thomas (2021-06-04). "The silent pandemic of superbugs could be far deadlier than Covid-19 – we must fix it". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  56. ^ "Lessons learned from COVID-19 to stop future pandemics".
  57. ^ a b c "A Pandemic We Can Prevent".
  58. ^ "Waiving intellectual property rights is a flawed solution to achieving Covid-19 vaccine equity".
  59. ^ "Thomas Cueni". IHF. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  60. ^ Pollack, Andrew (2016-01-21). "To Fight 'Superbugs,' Drug Makers Call for Incentives to Develop Antibiotics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  61. ^ "City Cancer Challenge – Home – C/Can – Driving local innovation for global impact". citycancerchallenge.org. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  62. ^ "Leveraging resources, strengthening investments – City Cancer Challenge". citycancerchallenge.org. 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  63. ^ "Access Accelerated Year 4 Report" (PDF).
  64. ^ "Thomas Cueni". Open to Debate. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  65. ^ "The Pandemic: Year-In-Review". Open to Debate. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  66. ^ "Agree to Disagree COVID Series: Vaccine Patents". Open to Debate. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  67. ^ "Access to Vaccines Debate - Munk Debates". munkdebates.com. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  68. ^ Interview with Thomas Cueni, Director of Interpharma (1/2) - Play RTS. Retrieved 2024-07-07 – via www.rts.ch.
  69. ^ BBC News (2021-04-29). Covid vaccines: Should global political leaders abandon patent protections? - BBC Newsnight. Retrieved 2024-07-07 – via YouTube.
  70. ^ IFPMA (2021-05-27). Thomas Cueni CNN Connect the World With Becky Anderson (21 May 2021). Retrieved 2024-07-07 – via YouTube.
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