Head of France's LEEM elected pres of health care federation

Christian Lajoux, the president of France's research-based drug industry group, the LEEM, has been unanimously elected president of the French Federation of Health Care Industries (FEFIS). Mr Lajoux is also the president of Sanofi-Aventis France, the domestic unit of the pharmaceutical major.

In his new role, Mr Lajoux, who remains leader of the LEEM, will represent 10 professional organizations covering medicines, medical devices and both optician and dentistry products. The FEFIS has 900 member firms of which 255 are research centers. The industry represents 210,000 directly employed personnel and 65.0 billion euros ($82.0 billion) in annual turnover, making it the sixth largest business sector in terms of added value in France.

Mr Lajoux expressed his goal as FEFIS president as "taking up the challenge of keeping the attractiveness and competitiveness of France in the life sciences domain."