Jean-Guy Goulet of Pharmascience Elected Chair of Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA)
Ray Shelley of Apotex Elected Vice-Chair
TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA) is pleased to announce the unanimous election of Mr. Jean-Guy Goulet, Chief Operating Officer of Pharmascience, as Chair of CGPA.
Mr. Ray Shelley, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations – Canada and Caribbean at Apotex Inc., has been unanimously elected as Vice-Chair of CGPA.
Mr. Goulet said that, given the lessons learned through maintaining Canada's prescription drug supply through the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening the domestic industry and the global supply chain are the industry's most important and immediate priorities.
"Compared with many countries that rely solely on importing their prescription medicines, Canada is fortunate to have extensive domestic generic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and capabilities," said Mr. Goulet. "With generic medicines dispensed to fill 73 percent of all prescriptions in Canada the security of the nation's supply rests largely with the generic pharmaceutical industry."
The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges and uncertainty for global supply chains in all industries, with border closures and export restrictions imposed by some countries, and significant reductions in global transportation capacity. Canada's generic pharmaceutical industry was not immune from these challenges.
Through the extraordinary efforts of Canada's generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, Canada has so far been able to avoid catastrophic shortages of medicines used in to treat COVID-19 patients and those dispensed in community pharmacies, upon which millions of Canadians rely.
As Canada remains highly dependant on international imports of generic pharmaceutical products, governments and industry need to apply the lessons being learned from the pandemic to ensure that the first priority is maintaining a stable and resilient supply of prescription medicines for Canadian patients.
"The pharmaceutical industry and supply chain are fully globalized. Regardless of where manufacturing occurs, ingredients and inputs are sourced internationally," said Mr. Shelley. "It is, however, possible to strengthen Canada's existing pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, promote a well-functioning global supply chain, and adopt a coordinated approach to better equip Canada for future health emergencies."
Jean-Guy Goulet joined Pharmascience in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer, and has led the generic medicines commercialization activities both in Canada and abroad, as well as all activities related to production, quality, R&D and supply chain management. His career in the industry began in 1987 at Technilab Pharma, a company later acquired by ratiopharm. Mr. Goulet held various positions at ratiopharm including President of its North American Commercial Division. In 2011, he joined Watson PLC, which became Actavis in 2012. He headed Actavis for both Canada and Latin America, until they acquired Allergan in April 2015. Shortly after, Mr. Goulet became President of Actavis Canada.
Ray Shelley is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Canada and Caribbean, at Apotex. Appointed in 2018, Mr. Shelley has accountability to develop and execute strategy for the Canadian and Caribbean region for the generic portfolio. Prior to this role, he served as Vice President, Sales for the Apotex generic business in Canada. A 25-year veteran of Apotex, Ray has held progressively senior positions in the company within Sales and Marketing since he joined the company in 1996.
About the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association
The Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA) represents Canada's generic pharmaceutical industry. The industry plays an important role in controlling health-care costs in Canada. Generic drugs are dispensed to fill more than 73 percent of all prescriptions but account for account for less than 20 percent of the $32-billion Canadians spend annually on prescription medicines.
SOURCE Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association
