WASHINGTON – The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) concluded their 2019 Annual Executive Conference, held from March 17-19, at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, in Boca Raton, Fla. More than 300 executives from the over-the-counter (OTC) drug, dietary supplement, and consumer medical device sectors heard from an impressive lineup of speakers, including renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin. At the meeting, CHPA also unveiled new research, showing the significant and increasing value of OTC medicines to the U.S. healthcare system, launched a new initiative for women in the consumer healthcare products industry, and convened board meetings and elected new members for CHPA and its Educational Foundation.

Scott Melville

“These are exciting times for our industry,” said CHPA president and chief executive officer Scott Melville. “The consumer health landscape is changing quickly – regulatory reform, modernization, information technology – everything is in motion. And all our attendees play a major role in leading the way and shaping how the consumer healthcare industry evolves. In a time of rapid change, OTC medicines have never been more important. That’s why we were particularly excited this year to unveil new research CHPA developed in partnership with IRI around the value of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to the U.S. healthcare system.”

The newly released research, conducted by IRI for CHPA, looked at nine major therapeutic categories of OTC medicines, finding that the availability of OTC medicines provides $146 billion in value to the U.S. healthcare system annually. Additionally, OTC medicines provide additional value through expanded access to self-care for more than 27 million consumers who would otherwise forgo treatment if OTCs were not available.

The CHPA board of directors met at AEC to discuss key association priorities and elected six new members to its board of directors and two new members to the board of directors’ executive committee.

 “CHPA is fortunate to have such a dedicated board of directors that so effectively represents our membership during these times of great change,” said Melville. “Under Gary Downing’s leadership as chair, the association will remain focused on working to expand the industry and highlighting the essential role of consumer health and self-care in our evolving healthcare system.”

One-third of the CHPA board of directors is elected annually, with manufacturer members elected for three-year terms and associate members elected for two-year terms. The board members re-elected at this year’s conference include:

• Chris Ascher, co-president, B.F. Ascher & Company, Inc.
• J. P. Borneman, chairman and CEO, Hyland’s, Inc.
• Agustin Caceres, president and general manager, Genomma Lab USA Inc.
• Tom Corley, executive vice president, chief global retail officer, president U.S. market, Catalina
• Mike Donnantuono, president & COO, Blistex Inc.
• Jeff Gerchenson, chairman & CEO, Alva-Amco Pharmacal Companies, Inc.
• Joe Gordon, president, Consumer Health & Vision Care, Bausch + Lomb
• John Incledon, president and CEO, Hisamitsu America, Inc., Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co. Inc.
• Steve LaMonte, executive chairman, Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.
• Carlyn Solomon, CEO, Santa Cruz Healthcare/BestCo Inc.

The newly-elected board members include:

• Noel Geoffroy, head of consumer health care, North America, Sanofi
• Nitish Kapoor, executive vice president, North America, RB
• Hiroshi Mori, president, U.S. domestic business, The Mentholatum Company
• Lisa Paley, region president, North America, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
• Douglas Trueman, vice president consumer products, AmerisourceBergen Corporation
• Michelle Wang Goodridge, president, U.S. self care, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc.

Additionally, Noel Geoffroy and Lisa Paley were elected to serve on the board of directors’ executive committee.

View the full CHPA board of directors here.

Also launched at AEC was CHPA’s Women’s Leadership Initiative aimed at cultivating future female executives in the retail and healthcare sectors by encouraging the professional growth of emerging female leaders and retaining critical industry talent.

The CHPA Educational Foundation also held a successful board meeting during this year’s conference, with Chris DeWolf, president & chief executive officer, Lil’ Drug Store Products, Inc., now serving as interim chair.

Other members of the CHPA Educational Foundation board of directors include:

• Velvet Gogol Bennett, associate director global health care communications, The Procter & Gamble Company
• Tom Corley, executive vice president, chief global retail officer, president U.S. market, Catalina
• Amardeep Kahlon, chief marketing officer and vice president of U.S. marketing, GSK Consumer Healthcare
• Morris Lewis, senior director, corporate affairs lead, Pfizer Consumer Health
• Scott M. Melville, president and chief executive officer, Consumer Healthcare Products Association
• Ryan Olohan, managing director, healthcare, Google, Inc.
• Joy-Lee Pasqualoni, consumer communication leader-North America, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.
• Kyle Stenzel, senior vice president, sales, North America, Combe, Inc.