Dive Brief:
- The WSJ's Ed Silverman reports that AstraZeneca (AZ) has chosen Dr. Cori Bargmann, a well-respected researcher at Rockefeller University in New York, to stand for election in April and for a seat on its science committee.
- Bargmann has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator for 20 years.
- Although Bargmann has tweeted critical comments about various pharmaceutical companies and their activities, she does not consider herself a critic, according to Silverman. Rather, her focus is on pharmaceutical company ethics.
Dive Insight:
When one has a prominent position as a researcher and numerous followers, tweets can be far-reaching.
Some of the things that Bargmann has tweeted about that may have contributed to her reputation as a pharma critic include comments about the fact that GSK had to pay $3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges related to off-label marketing and concealing data. She also tweeted critically regarding quality-control issues at Ranbaxy Labs in India, and other topics.
Nonetheless, Bargmann says she looks forward to learning more about the pharmaceutical industry and has not tweeted negatively about the industry in some time. And her non-pharma background could add some interesting ideological diversity to the board of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world—if her nomination is approved.