Abraham Palache

Medical Director, Solvay Biologicals, Belgium

Session

He participated in the "Biocrises" session.

Biography

Dr. Palache (1952) is currently Global Scientific Communication and Public Affairs Director for Influenza Vaccines at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Weesp, the Netherlands.

Dr. Palache received his MSc degree in Biochemistry at the University of Amsterdam in 1980. After graduation, he initiated his professional career as a Clinical Research Associate at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in the Netherlands. He gained a lot of experience in clinical development of new drugs in various fields. Prior to his current position, he held different ‘Clinical Group-leader’ functions. In such position he directed the clinical development program of Solvay’s new cell-cultured influenza vaccine (MDCK), which was registered in 2001 in the Netherlands.

He was an Influenza Research Fellow at the Dutch National Influenza Centre: Erasmus University, Rotterdam (chair: Professor A. Osterhaus), where he received his PhD in1991.

Since 1993 he is member of the Executive Committee of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI).

Since 2001 he is member of the Public Health Working Group of the Association of the European Vaccine Manufacturers (EVM) and in 2005 he joined the Influenza Working Group, which he co-chairs since January 2009.

In 2003 he became founding member of the Influenza Vaccine Supply International Task Force (IVS) and since 2004 he chairs the Policy Practice and Communication subgroup (PPC) of the IVS.
In 2006 he joined the APACI (Asian Pacific Advisory Committee Influenza) group as Solvay Pharmaceutical’s representative.

Dr. Palache is author of over 50 papers most of which were published in peer-reviewed medical scientific journals. He is co-author of the Rapid Reference book Influenza which is published by Elsevier in 2006 and has been translated in four languages.