WASHINGTON — Dan Leonard on Tuesday was named president and chief executive officer of the Association for Accessible Medicines. He will join AAM in September. He most recently served as president and CEO of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), and succeeds Chester “Chip” Davis, Jr. who left AAM in February to head the Healthcare Distribution Alliance.

Dan Leonard

“Dan’s decades of leadership experience across the pharmaceutical ecosystem and his unparalleled background in policy and communications makes him the perfect person to lead our industry’s efforts to advocate for policies to increase patient access to generic and biosimilar medicines through greater competition,” said AAM chairman Alok Sonig, CEO of U.S. generics and head of global R&D and biosimilars at Lupin Ltd.

“During our search for a CEO, AAM has been ably led by its senior vice president and general counsel, Jeff Francer, and we thank him for taking on the additional responsibilities,” said vice chair Carol Lynch, president of Sandoz U.S. and head of Sandoz North America. “We are confident that Dan will lead the association’s talented team to support our work with the administration and Congress to further secure the pharmaceutical supply chain and create market conditions that will ensure the long-term viability of the generic and biosimilars industry.”

At NPC, Leonard developed quantitative data to provide policymakers with a strong scientific foundation for informed considerations about health care access and value. Prior to his tenure at NPC,he was executive vice president of advocacy and professional services for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the trade association representing companies providing health insurance coverage in the United States.

In addition to his extensive trade association experience, Mr. Leonard is a veteran communications and media professional with more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, legislative management, politics and broadcast journalism