The board of EBE is delighted to announce the appointment of Barbara Freischem as the new Executive Director. She will take up her post on 29 June 2015.

Barbara's responsibilities will include implementation of the EBE outreach and advocacy plans in 2015. She will also work on promoting EBE’s overall priorities for supporting its recently updated vision of  being the reference industry organisation for biotech and advanced therapies in the field of healthcare. This aims to foster the ecosystem of companies of all sizes interacting with key public and private stakeholders.

Currently, Barbara works in the Scientific and Technical Department of the World Organisation for Animal Health, Paris, France, with responsibilities for veterinary products including antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance, and animal health research coordination.

Barabara's extensive experience includes working for the German national registration authority for veterinary medicines,  the European Medicines Agency, where her duties included oversight for pharmacovigilance for veterinary medicines, as Global Head Pharmacovigilance for Novartis Animal Health and as the Executive Director of the International Federation for Animal Health, the global representative body of the animal health industry. 

Barbara commented: “I am delighted to be joining EBE, as I have always held a keen interest in science and innovation in medicine. I look forward to working with EBE to ensure an environment conducive for biopharmaceuticals and emerging healthcare technologies in Europe, whilst promoting science innovation.”

Roberto Gradnik, EBE President, commented: “I warmly welcome Barbara to EBE and I am looking forward to working with her on further advancing the role of EBE in supporting the development of emerging biosciences companies throughout Europe. The vast experience of Barbara in managing international organisations will be an important asset to EBE.”

Richard Bergström, Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), within which EBE is a specialised group, said: “Barbara joins EBE and EFPIA at an interesting time. Pipelines are full and our members are venturing into new areas of advanced therapies, on which EBE is focusing.”

The European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) is recognised as the leading biopharmaceutical organisation in Europe, with a membership of 52 companies, the majority of them small- and medium-sized. EBE is “Europe’s expert voice for emerging bioscience & technology and the leading platform for the health innovation ecosystem.”