September 5, 2023, New York City. Richard Bagger, a well-known and respected expert in healthcare and biopharmaceutical policy, has joined the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest as a member of its Board of Directors.
“Rich’s deep expertise and wise counsel over the years has been a real asset to CMPI,” said Peter J. Pitts, President of CMPI. “Having him on our board will allow us to access his knowledge and advice more regularly during this crucial period in American healthcare.”
Bagger has a record of public service that spans more than three decades. From 2012 until 2021, he served as a Commissioner and Finance Chair of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was the founding Chair of the Gateway Program Development Corporation in 2017. Bagger served from 2010 to 2012 as Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities. He previously was elected to serve five terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues as Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, Bagger was elected to the New Jersey Senate and served there until 2003. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Council Member, Planning Board Chair, and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey.
Bagger also worked in the health sector for over 25 years, including as the senior most global Corporate Affairs executive for two major biopharmaceutical companies and as legal counsel for a large health plan. From 2012 through 2019, he was Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Market Access for Celgene Corporation, as well as a member of the company’s Executive Committee. During a 16-year career with Pfizer Inc, Bagger served from 2006 to 2009 on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy. Prior to joining Pfizer, he was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.
Bagger served as Board Chair of the National Pharmaceutical Council for 2019 and is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he chaired the Global Innovation Policy Center from 2014 to 2018. He also serves on the Boards of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Regional Plan Association.
Bagger is currently a Partner and Executive Director of Christie 55 Solutions, a consulting firm that provides strategic counsel to assist clients with business strategies and opportunities and complex public policy and regulatory challenges. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics and a member of the Board of Directors of Tonix Pharmaceuticals.
“Rich has been a good friend and advisor to CMPI,” commented Dr. Robert Goldberg, CMPI’s co-founder and Vice President of Research Programs. “Together we’re going to help advance CMPI’s mission of advancing personalized medicine, 21st century drug development and regulatory science to the next level.”
“CMPI is an important voice in patient-centered, innovation-focused health policy. I’m honored and excited to support CMPI’s vital mission in providing research, analysis, and commentary to inform sound, evidence-based policy development,” Bagger concluded.
For more information, please contact Mario Coluccio at mcoluccio@cmpi.org
