WASHINGTON – Craig Burton has been promoted to senior vice president of policy and strategic alliances for the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), effective May 30. He will also become the executive director of the Biosimilars Council, which advocates at the federal and state levels for policies to improve access to more affordable alternatives to expensive biologic medicines.

With more than 20 years of federal health policy experience, Burton has served in key roles at the center of a range of pressing health care debates. Prior to joining AAM in 2017, he was at Avalere Health, where he helped clients anticipate and plan for the impact of change stemming from legislative, regulatory, or other market dynamics. He also established and directed the health policy and government relations efforts for two biopharmaceutical companies.

“The AAM board and I are pleased to elevate Craig to senior vice president, where he will continue his work to create and promote policy solutions to ensure that America’s patients have access to the safe, affordable, and effective generic and biosimilar medicines that they depend on,” said AAM president and CEO Dan Leonard. “Craig is nationally recognized as a leading expert in health policy, and his experience in both the executive and legislative branches of government makes him an invaluable advocate for our industry and the patients that it serves.”

Burton has also served as deputy assistant secretary for legislation in the Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he advised the secretary, senior department leaders and White House officials on legislative strategy to achieve key priorities. He also served in the Senate, where he was health policy advisor to Majority Leader Bill Frist, and as professional staff on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Christine Simmon

AAM’s long-time EVP of policy and head of the Biosimilars Council, Christine Simmon, has just been named president and chief executive officer of the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), the nonprofit membership organization that offers education, training, publications, and professional engagement opportunities in the field of food and drug law.