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The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) today announced that Anthony (Tony) Lakavage, J.D., will become Senior Vice President, Global External Affairs, beginning on September 14. In this role, Mr. Lakavage will lead USP’s recently formed Global External Affairs Division which includes Global Communications, Global Stakeholder Engagement, U.S. Government Affairs, U.S. Regulatory Affairs and International Regulatory Affairs. Lakavage will report to the CEO and be a member of the Executive Team. He will provide overall leadership for USP’s external affairs engagement in the U.S. and around the world and will have management responsibility for more than 30 staff.
“It is a privilege to join the USP team to help advance the organization’s critical role in protecting public health by developing quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements and food ingredients,” said Lakavage. “Globalization and the advancement of science provide many exciting opportunities for USP to leverage its expertise around the world to support patient and consumer safety, and I am thrilled to be a part of this effort.”
Mr. Lakavage joins USP with twenty-five years of experience in U.S. and international external affairs. Most recently, Lakavage was Worldwide Vice President, Public Affairs at Becton Dickinson & Co. (BD) where he led BD’s global Public Policy and Government Affairs, Reimbursement and Payment Policy, and Social Investing teams. His leadership advanced public policy measures in several countries to reduce healthcare-associated infections and to protect healthcare worker safety. He also built partnerships with NGOs and community groups focused on diabetes, HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer prevention.
Earlier in his career, Lakavage spent nearly a decade working at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he was Vice President, Global Public Policy and Senior Director, External Affairs for GSK Vaccines and negotiated public-private partnerships with leading NGOs that advanced malaria and rotavirus vaccine development. In addition, his career in the life sciences industry also includes roles in U.S. federal and state government relations, public policy and marketing at GSK, Gilead, Applied Biosystems and Chiron. In the public sector, he worked for Missouri Congressman Alan Wheat (D-MO) and in the Pennsylvania State Senate.
Mr. Lakavage is a cum laude graduate of Saint Joseph’s University with a B.A. in Politics, and holds a J.D. from the Temple University School of Law, where he also graduated cum laude. He has been admitted to the Bar in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in the State of New Jersey.
"Tony will have a great opportunity to build an external affairs program at USP that leverages the strong stakeholder collaboration that has been a hallmark of USP’s legacy. He will help to identify areas where USP can build new partnerships with governments and stakeholders around the world to support patient and consumer safety through quality standards. We are pleased to have him join our team,” stated Ron Piervincenzi, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of USP.
