Securing America’s Medicines and Supply (SAMS)

SAMS is a multi-industry coalition of companies with the mission to strengthen the security of the medical supply chain in the United States.

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Introduction

SAMS seeks to drive implementation of legislation and regulation to reward and foster U.S.-made manufacturing of important pharmaceutical products, devices, and personal protection equipment. We support U.S. patients, domestic healthcare security, and U.S. jobs. Specific policy initiatives include:

  • Encourage increased manufacturing operations within U.S. borders for the U.S. medical supply chain via reforms to trade and tax law to design policies that promote domestic production.
  • Maintain and expand U.S. government loan, grant, direct investment, and purchase agreement programs for important medical infrastructure developed by companies primarily manufacturing in the United States through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA).
  • Explore opportunities within Medicare, the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Defense to recognize and promote U.S.-made pharmaceutical products and supplies.
  • Strengthen procurement to the strategic national stockpile (SNS) for important pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, and personal protective equipment, with emphasis on those produced domestically.
Members
Amneal Pharmaceuticals
Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., headquartered in Bridgewater, NJ, is a fully integrated essential medicines company. We make healthy possible through the development, manufacturing, and distribution of generic and specialty pharmaceuticals, primarily within the United States. The Company has a diverse portfolio of approximately 250 products in its Generics segment and is expanding across a broad range of complex products and therapeutic areas, including injectables and biosimilars. In its Specialty segment, Amneal has a growing portfolio of branded pharmaceutical products focused primarily on central nervous system and endocrine disorders, with a pipeline focused on unmet needs. Through its AvKARE segment, the Company is a distributor of pharmaceuticals and other products for the U.S. federal government, retail, and institutional markets.
Cencora
Cencora fosters a positive impact on the health of people and communities around the world by advancing the development and delivery of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. As a leading global healthcare company, with a foundation in pharmaceutical distribution and solutions for manufacturers, pharmacies and providers, we create unparalleled access, efficiency and reliability for human and animal health. Our 41,000 global team members power our purpose: We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures. Cencora is ranked #8 on the Fortune 500 with more than $200 billion in annual revenue.
Coherus BioSciences
Coherus is an American-made, commercial stage biopharmaceutical company with the mission to increase access to cost-effective biosimilar and innovative medicines that can deliver a major impact on patients’ lives and savings to the health care system.
FluidIQ
fluidiQ a public benefit and Delaware corporation, provides simple yet elegant solutions based on proprietary fluidics technology. The company was founded by a group of doctors, engineers and patient advocates who joined together to find solutions for gaps in medical needs, including ventilators, in the midst of the coronavirus-caused world crisis. fluidIQ aims to deliver hope to a world in need with simple, easy-to-deploy technology solutions that solve the most pressing medical challenges of our time. fluidIQ’s roadmap for an entire family of products is based on fluidics-operated devices dedicated to filling gaps in emergency and preparedness protocols that are user-friendly, scalable and cost-effective. The science of fluidics uses air or fluids to operate things automatically without the need for electricity or batteries.
iRemedy
With 15 years in healthcare supply, iRemedy is a trusted and reliable partner for acquiring medical equipment and supplies. We service over 10,000 hospitals, surgery centers, physicians, commercial and government clients nationwide. For more information, please visit www.iRemedy.com.
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.
Teva Pharmaceuticals is a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel that specializes in the manufacture of generic drugs, research and development of novel therapies and pharmaceutical distribution. Teva is the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world, with manufacturing facilities concentrated in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Anda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teva, is the fourth-largest drug distributor in the United States. 
US Biologic
US Biologic® is a social innovation company that “Delivers Disease Prevention®.” The company’s proprietary OrisBioSM oral-delivery platform is changing global disease prevention, allowing safe, effective, and cost-efficient preventative therapeutics for wildlife, companion animals, and food animals.
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on providing medicines to address unmet patient needs, stemming from 150 years of using their unique strengths, experience and expertise to help improve people’s lives.
Board of Directors
Denny M. Lanfear
SAMS Chairman
CEO and Chairman, Coherus BioSciences
Denny Lanfear is a biopharmaceutical leader and biosimilar pioneer with a proven track record of successful entrepreneurial vision and achievement. In 2010, after decades working in the biopharmaceutical industry, he founded Coherus BioSciences with the vision of improving the public’s access to high-quality, life-changing medicines. Under Mr. Lanfear’s leadership as CEO and Chairman, Coherus BioSciences has transformed from an unfunded startup into the industry’s leading pure play biosimilar company. In addition, he has led its foray into innovative cancer therapeutics in 2021.
Michael Brzica
SAMS Treasurer
Vice President of Government Affairs, Teva Pharmaceuticals
Michael Brzica is currently Vice President, Government Affairs for Teva Pharmaceuticals. In this role, Brzica leads the company’s interface with state and federal policymakers in legislative and executive branches. Prior to joining Teva, Brzica held roles of increasing responsibility at the Association for Accessible Medicines, a Washington, D.C. trade association representing manufacturers of generic and biosimilar medicines. In addition to these roles, Brzica worked in government affairs capacities at Prime Therapeutics and the American Dental Association. He began his career in Washington as counsel to former U.S. Representative Lee Terry (R-NE). Brzica holds a B.S. and J.D. from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Lindsey, their son Henry, and dog Morris.
David T. Sanders
SAMS Executive Director
Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy, Coherus BioSciences
David Sanders has more than twenty years of experience working in government and industry. He worked for Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), then-Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Bush-Cheney 2004. He served as a legislative liaison for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, working on intellectual property and trade law. He advanced policy working for Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, National Community Pharmacists Association and DaVita Inc. before joining Coherus BioSciences in the summer of 2020 where he leads a small team in policy, advocacy and public affairs.
Tony Paquin
SAMS Director
CEO, iRemedy
A serial entrepreneur, industry pioneer, sought after speaker and international healthcare consultant, Tony has been in leadership positions his entire life; and intimately understands the unique opportunities, challenges, thrill, frustration and loneliness often associated with being an industry game-changer. Over the past three decades, he has founded and led numerous public and private companies and organizations and is a recognized expert in a broad range of markets, not the least of which is Retail Healthcare, an industry he is credited for pioneering.
Andrew Gonce
SAMS Director
Senior Director, Commercial Strategy, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Andrew joined SpecGx in 2019, and currently is responsible for Commercial, Business Development and Strategy for Mallinckrodt Specialty Generics (SpecGx). Prior to joining SpecGx, he worked in strategy, operations, and quality at Mundipharma, Hospira, and McKinsey & Co. Over his 20-year career, he has worked across 20+ pharmaceutical plants on four continents. He has an MBA from the University of Virginia, and a Master and Bachelors in Engineering from Duke University and currently lives in Raleigh, NC.
Stephen R. Conafay
SAMS Secretary and Washington Counsel
Steve Conafay has 35 years of leadership and management experience in government relations, public policy and communications. For 12 years, Mr. Conafay was vice president of government relations for Pfizer, where he was elected as a corporate officer in 1984. He served as senior vice president of corporate affairs for Glaxo Inc., where he was also a member of the Board of Directors. After heading the legislative practice for Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue, he was tapped by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) to assume the No. 2 position of executive vice president of strategic and legislative affairs. He also served as an executive fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the leading free market think tank in the U.S.

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