Anna Richo Tumblr Blog

Anna Richo acts as Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President for Amgen Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in Thousand Oaks, California. In her current role, Ms. Richo ensures that the company and its employees conduct operations in a strictly ethical manner. To that end, she remains actively involved with various aspects of manufacturing and development, sales, healthcare compliance, and reporting. In addition, Anna Richo advises the firm's Board of Directors on Amgen's progress toward improving its social and environmental commitments. Before assuming these roles, she served as Vice President, Law, for the company. Anna Richo brings to her work years of professional experience. Prior to joining Amgen in 2003, she fulfilled the duties of Vice President, Law, for the BioScience Division of Baxter Healthcare Corporation. In this capacity, she steered efforts regarding public policy and government relations for a $3.2 billion unit. Her legal responsibilities encompassed acquisitions and mergers, litigation, compliance, and intellectual property. During her time there, she supervised 36 professionals around the globe and participated on both the Baxter Senior Management Team and the BioScience Senior Management Team. Anna Richo first joined Baxter International Inc. in 1991. Working from the firm's headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois, she began as Corporate Counsel and assumed positions of increasing responsibility through the years, including Chief Litigation Counsel and Associate General Counsel. In other prior experience, she practiced law at Peterson & Ross, a Chicago firm. A member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pharmaceutical Compliance Forum, Anna Richo holds a BS from Cornell University and a JD from the DePaul University College of Law. She is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and other jurisdictions.

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Illinois State Bar Association Holds 36th Annual Ask a Lawyer Day

In her role as the executive vice president and general counsel of biopharmaceutical firm UCB, Anna Richo is responsible for all of the company’s legal, corporate compliance, and intellectual property divisions. Outside of her daily work, Anna Richo is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. In April, the Illinois State Bar Association provided the general public with pro bono consulting services as part of its Ask a Lawyer Day, which is now in its 36th year. During the event, volunteer attorneys manned telephones and responded to Skype and email questions pertaining to a number of practice areas, including personal injury claims, family court matters, and end-of-life planning. The Chicago Bar Association, DuPage County Bar Association, Lake County Bar Association, and Will County Bar Association joined the Illinois Bar to help make the event a success. Throughout the year, these organizations operate a robust referral service that connects members of the public with attorneys who provide low-cost initial consultations.

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Three of the Accolades Earned by Amgen in 2017

A graduate of Cornell University and DePaul University College of Law, Anna Richo is currently executive vice president and general counsel at UCB in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to joining UCB, Anna Richo served in numerous executive roles, including senior vice president and chief compliance officer at pharmaceutical company Amgen. Amgen has earned numerous accolades in 2017. The following are just a few: 1. FORTUNE World's Most Admired Companies in the Pharmaceutical Sector FORTUNE has again included Amgen on its list of the World's Most Admired Companies, placing it fifth in the pharmaceutical category. The rankings are based on surveys of financial analysts and executives and directors of eligible companies. 2. CEO Cancer Gold Standard The CEO Roundtable on Cancer has renewed Amgen’s Gold Standard accreditation. This signifies that the company has created programs to reduce cancer risk through initiatives in five areas: prevention, screening, clinical trials, treatment, and survivorship and health education. 3. CareerBliss 50 Happiest Companies in America Amgen has again earned second place on the CareerBliss list of the Happiest Companies in America. The rankings are based on staff reviews on the CareerBliss website.

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Validity of UCB Patent Confirmed by US Court

Attorney Anna Richo serves as executive vice president and general counsel for international biopharmaceutical firm, UCB, SA, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, with a presence in around 40 countries. In this role Anna Richo is essentially responsible for all aspects of the company’s global compliance, intellectual property, and overall legal concerns. In connection, the Delaware District Court confirmed in August 2016 the validity of US patent RE38,551, relating to UCB’s Vimpat® (lacosamide), an anti-epileptic drug. Lacosamide is approved for treating adults with epilepsy experiencing partial-onset seizures, as an adjunctive therapy or an additional treatment used in combination with the main treatment (in order to augment the main treatment). Adults in this case means 16 years and older in the European Union and 17 years and older in the United States. Lacosamide is approved as a monotherapy in the United States, while this is not currently the case in the European Union. Monotherapy refers to treating a specific disease or disorder using a single drug. There are at present 47 countries where lacosamide is available.

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Intellectual Property and the United States Constitution

An experienced corporate executive and attorney, Anna Richo currently acts as the executive vice president and general counsel at Brussels based UCB, an international biopharmaceutical firm. Also a 2009 FiercePharma Top 15 Women in Pharma, Anna Richo is responsible for all legal and compliance matters at UCB including intellectual property issues. Intellectual property is defined as something a person creates that is restricted from use by others unless approved by the creator. Usually restricted legally by tools such as trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyrights, intellectual property includes both physical and intellectual objects such as names, art, inventions, symbols and many others. In the United States, congress is authorized to regulate intellectual property through the US Constitution Intellectual Property Clause. Also known as the patent and copyright clause, the Intellectual Property Clause grants congress power to promote scientific and artistic progress while ensuring fair compensation to those that create the property. The clause can be found in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of the US Constitution.

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Annual WBL Summit Scheduled for March of 2017

Anna Richo has nearly three decades of legal experience and currently serves as executive vice president and general counsel at the Brussels-based biopharmaceutical firm UCB. Outside of her professional responsibilities, Anna Richo has been a member of the Women Business Leaders (WBL) of the US Health Care Industry Foundation, which among its various offerings hosts an annual summit. The WBL Summit offers senior executive women in the health care industry the opportunity to build relationships with fellow industry professionals and in doing so strengthen their careers. Restricted to WBL Foundation members, the summit also limits registration to 180 women in order to keep the atmosphere intimate. Apart from networking opportunities, the summit features a range of events and engaging speakers, as well as the chance to earn qualified education credits with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Registration for the annual, all-inclusive event includes meals, access to programming, and hotel accommodations. The 16th WBL Summit will take place March 15-17, 2017, in Las Vegas.

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Business Ethics - Benefits and Profitability

Anna Richo served as senior vice president and chief compliance officer at Amgen Inc., a biotechnology company in Thousand Oaks, California. Named one of the top 15 women in pharma by FiercePharma in 2009, Anna Richo was responsible for overseeing Amgen’s compliance and business ethics programs. Business ethics is an applied philosophy that explores the framework of practices and procedures in business. The study of business ethics takes into consideration legal requirements and morality in business actions, and how these impact the effectiveness of a company. Business ethics became a mainstream corporate movement in the 1970s. For a business, there are many benefits of engaging in ethical behavior. Profits rise because ethical companies attract customers, who increasingly care for social and environmental causes. Employee retention is improved as well; with lower turnover rates, productivity increases. Companies that behave ethically often attract the most talented employees. Ethical businesses appeal to investors; this brings up the value of shares. Consequences of ignoring business ethics and engaging in unethical activities can have legal consequences and damage the company's reputation, leaving it in danger of losing both backing and profits.

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Minority Corporate Counsel Association Membership

Based in Brussels, Belgium, Anna Richo has held responsibilities as general counsel and executive vice president of the biopharmaceutical firm UCB since 2012. To complement her work, Anna Richo has been a member of several professional organizations, including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). Over the course of nearly two decades, MCCA has served the nation’s community of minority attorneys through advocacy initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in the legal field. Law professionals can best take advantage of MCCA’s various services by becoming affiliates of the group. MCCA membership is available to the entire legal department of a firm, with monetary contributions dependent on the size of the team. For example, departments with fewer than 10 attorneys must pay a fee of $400 per annum while those who employ more than 75 attorneys contribute $8,000. With most memberships, legal professionals receive such benefits as complimentary tickets to the MCCA Diversity Gala and a subscription to Diversity & the Bar Magazine. Moreover, all MCCA members gain access to exclusive informational, networking, and research tools that can help them to become prominent members in their field.

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UCB Dedicated to Learning About Parkinson’s Disease

Anna Richo is an attorney and professional with over two decades of experience at companies including Baxter Healthcare Corporation and Amgen, Inc. Currently, Anna Richo serves as executive vice president and general counsel of UCB in Brussels, Belgium. UCB is dedicated to researching the medications that help people with serious diseases. One of the conditions UCB is currently committed to learning more about is Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder that affects 6.3 million people worldwide. The condition is chronic and progressive and may involve movement issues, pain, anxiety, and trouble sleeping. Its symptoms vary greatly from individual to individual. The cause of the disease is unknown, but there are some pharmaceutical treatments that have helped people living with Parkinson’s to maintain their independence and sense of self. In order to best serve people living with Parkinson’s, UCB collaborates with several organizations including Tubingen University, Parkinson’s UK, Critical Path for Parkinson’s Disease, and MC10 Inc. Within these partnerships, UCB aims to learn as much as possible about treatment strategies and accelerate the rate at which the best treatments reach the market. This way, the company acts on its commitment to helping people who live with Parkinson’s disease.

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Taco Bell Agrees to Adjust Policies on Antibiotic Treated Meat

Anna Richo is a professional with around 25 years of biotech and pharmaceutical experience; at present, she serves as executive vice president and general counsel for UCB. In 2009, Anna Richo was named one of FiercePharma’s “Top 15 Women in Pharma.” FiercePharma is a network of professionals in the pharmaceutical industry that offers updated new, trends, and topics every business day. The extensive website has a section devoted to animal health news, and it recently reported on the fast food restaurant Taco Bell joining the trend toward antibiotic-free meat in the US. Overusing antibiotics in livestock can be dangerous for the animals as well as for humans, as it can contribute to antibiotic resistance, which threatens important medical advances from the last seventy years. McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and Panera have all already agreed to reduce or eliminate their use of antibiotic-treated meat. Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands, received a letter from the National Resources Defense Council and 80 other organizations urging them to improve their policies on antibiotic use, and the company agreed to phase out antibiotic use at least in some places over the next couple of years. Since the fast food industry contributes substantially to the use of antibiotic-treated livestock, these sorts of commitments could make a considerable difference in both animal and human health in the future.

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A Brief Look at WBL Membership

Brussels-based business executive Anna Richo holds a JD from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago and has 30 years of legal experience. The former senior vice president and chief compliance officer of Amgen Inc., Anna Richo is also a member of the Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry Foundation (WBL). The WBL is a group that brings female senior executive leaders in the health care sector together to network and discuss issues are pertinent to the industry. In order to become a member of the WBL, a woman must hold the position of senior vice president or higher at an industry-leading medical firm. She also must be prepared to and have an interest in filling a position on board of directors. Women can become members with the WBL at two levels, basic membership and full membership. Basic membership is a free offer in which women can receive regular emails from the organization as well as attendance to its events. Full membership, which can be purchased for annual dues of $325, includes everything available to basic members, but also provides women with access to the online membership directory, notifications of board opportunities, and discounts on the price of admission to any WBL event. The WBL currently counts more than 3,300 female leaders among its members and strives to harness the power of its member base to make positive changes across all aspects of the health care industry.                            

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Refractory Epilepsy and the Reasons behind Uncontrollable Seizures

A graduate of Cornell University and DePaul University, Anna Richo has over 25 years of legal experience with particular focus on health care and medical firms. Anna Richo is currently executive vice president and general counsel for UCB, a Brussels-based pharmaceutical company. UCB works with physicians and allied health professionals to deliver care to the patients. In keeping with this vision, the company is constantly looking to explore transformational opportunities for patients with severe diseases. It is currently navigating its way through different conditions, including refractory epilepsy. Refractory epilepsy is a type of epilepsy wherein the seizures cannot be controlled by medications. Scientists have identified four general reasons why these seizures cannot be controlled: the treatment is not right, the diagnosis is wrong, there are unavoidable lifestyle factors that trigger seizures in spite of treatment, and the seizures just don't respond to treatment even if they are properly diagnosed. To merit a diagnosis, refractory seizures need to be severe and frequent enough that they disrupt the quality of life of those who have refractory epilepsy.

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Membership in the Pharmaceutical Compliance Forum

A former vice president at the Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Anna Richo is executive vice president and general counsel with the Belgium-based biopharmaceutical company UCB. With 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, Anna Richo has participated in professional organizations like the Pharmaceutical Compliance Forum (PCF). Founded in 1999, the PCF is dedicated to educating its members and promoting effective, efficient corporate compliance programs throughout the industry. The organization’s members include professionals from the biotechnology and research-based pharmaceutical industries, and PCF meetings are most often attended by compliance attorneys and officials who help craft compliance programs. To be eligible for membership, applicant companies must comply with the OIG Compliance Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and the Federal Organization Sentencing Guidelines and pay dues based on the total number United States-based employees. Members receive access to the continually revised pharma compliance resource guide, discounts on the PCF’s meetings and training seminars, and access to the organization’s Web-based networking system.

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SCCE to Host 2015 Basic Compliance and Ethics Academy in Dubai

An attorney with nearly 30 years in practice, Anna Richo currently serves as the executive vice president and general counsel of UCB, an international biopharmaceutical firm based in Brussels, Belgium. Previously serving in California as an executive with Amgen Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Anna Richo maintained membership with a number of professional organizations, including the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), when she was Chief Compliance Officer at Amgen. The SCCE hosts a number of national and international conferences in major cities each year to provide members with training, networking, and mentoring opportunities. In December 2015, the SCCE will host a Basic Compliance and Ethics Academy in Dubai, where participants will engage in more than three days of intensive training, led by experts in the field of compliance and ethics. The SCCE explains that international corporations benefit from implementing effective compliance programs at all of their operational locations, and the organization’s academies provide necessary training to compliance leaders working outside the United States. During the Dubai Academy, the SCCE will provide comprehensive education on a wide range of subjects, including compliance and ethics program management, risk assessment, and internal reporting systems. Participants can also choose to take an optional CCEP-I exam at the end of the conference to earn recognition for their understanding of compliance and ethics.                            

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UCB Supports Sustainable Business Practices

As the executive vice president and general counsel of biopharmaceutical firm UCB, Anna Richo oversees the legal, corporate compliance, and intellectual property departments at the company’s Brussels, Belgium headquarters. Anna Richo is also an active member of the executive committee. The firm focuses its efforts on developing treatments for severe diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. In doing so, UCB also strives to minimize its ecological impact, and recently held a company-wide Global Green Planet Day.  An international company, UCB works to encourage environmental responsibility by involving its stakeholders, employees, and management team in seven engagement areas. These areas promote the responsible use of natural resources, compliance with international regulations, energy efficiency, green chemistry and life-cycle management practices, and proper management of waste and emissions. During Green Planet Day, UCB reminded its employees of the crucial role they play in maintaining the global environment. In addition, the firm encouraged employees to submit suggestions that would result in greener, more sustainable operations, including energy and water efficiency and waste reduction. UCB has already made significant strides in building sustainable business practices. The company draws approximately half of its energy from renewable sources, and reduced its total energy usage by 2 percent in 2013. Additionally, four UCB facilities are completely powered by green electricity and are located in Bulle, Switzerland, Monheim, Germany, and Braine and Anderlecht, Belgium.

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UCB Honored as Cogent Employer of the Year

Possessing more than 15 years of executive experience at various medical technology and biopharmaceutical firms, Anna Richo is currently the executive vice president and general counsel of UCB. Based at the firm’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Anna Richo is responsible for the intellectual property, corporate compliance, and legal sectors of this biopharmaceutical company, in addition to being active on the executive committee. Recently, UCB was honored with the global Employer of the Year award at the annual Cogent Life Science Skills Awards. At the awards ceremony and dinner in London, Cogent recognized individuals, employers, apprentices, and others that have made significant contributions to the life sciences industries. As a United Kingdom Sector Skills Council (SSC), Cogent is responsible for ensuring the development of workforce skills in the pharmaceutical, chemical, nuclear, petroleum, polymer, and life sciences sectors. These responsibilities include maximizing productivity and training resources while minimizing skill gaps and shortages. The Life Sciences Skills Employer of the Year award recognizes international firms that show a true appreciation for their workforce, providing opportunities for both personal and professional growth. As a recipient of this award, UCB was recognized for the professional development opportunities it provides to its employees, as well as its efforts to encourage the next generation of life sciences professionals. The firm collaborates with international universities to sponsor educational events such as UCB PhD Science Day at Oxford, in addition to allowing students to tour the UCB labs.