Binzer Previously Served as Senior FDA Health Counsel to the Senate Budget Committee
October 19, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC – (October 19, 2006) – The Public Health Preparedness practice of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP continues to develop its seasoned team of professionals with the addition of Peggy Binzer, former Senior FDA Health Counsel to the Senate Budget Committee, as partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office. Binzer will focus her work on enhancing the firm’s FDA and Health Care practice areas.
“Our Public Health Preparedness practice has evolved from its roots in Biodefense and Homeland Security to include pandemic and crisis management planning, EU public procurement, public-private partnerships and other areas of emerging health threats,” said John Clerici, Co-Chair of McKenna Long & Aldridge’s Public Health Preparedness practice. “Peggy’s involvement with the development of federal public health legislation coupled with her knowledge of such a breadth of public health issues will enable her to provide essential counsel to the firm’s clients.”
A veteran public policy and legal counselor, Binzer is experienced with a variety of issues relating to bioterrorism, pharmaceuticals, medical devises, biotechnology, food, veterinary drugs and patient safety. In her role as Senior FDA Health Counsel to the Senate Budget Committee, she was a primary advisor to Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH). She acted as lead staff on many pieces of high profile legislation including:
Binzer has also served as counsel to the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee where she advised then-Chairman Gregg on issues related to the FDA. She also worked for seven years in multiple roles at the FDA, including as Special Assistant for Legal Affairs to the Director of the Office of Nutritional Policy, Labeling and Dietary Supplements at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Binzer joins an experienced team of Public Health Preparedness professionals which includes Frank Rapoport, Co-Chair of the firm’s Pubic Health Preparedness practice and John Clerici, Co-Chair of the Public Health Preparedness practice and Chair of the Pandemic Flu practice. Both Rapoport and Clerici have both been involved in the development and passage of such key pieces of legislation as the Project BioShield Act of 2004 and the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act). They have also testified on numerous occasions before such Congressional committees as the United States Senate Appropriations Committee, HELP Committee and Judiciary Committee.
McKenna Long & Aldridge’s Public Health Preparedness practice is a multi-faceted resource for businesses interested in the emerging biodefense, pandemic preparedness and detection/diagnostic industries. The firm helps clients develop and secure funding for new solutions to combat bioterrorism, including chemical and radiological terrorism, and infectious diseases and to create profitable partnerships between the pharmaceutical, vaccine, biotechnology, diagnostic and other defense technology industries, the financial community and government.
Additionally, MLA provides strategic government affairs and business solutions, counsel and due diligence to investors and entities considering participation in the growing public health sector. MLA raises the profile of our clients’ science above their competitors’ to help secure government contracts and grants for such offerings as medical countermeasures, detection, protection and decontamination. The Public Health Preparedness team employs a range of business planning and government relations tools to successfully create domestic and international markets for countermeasures to public health purchasers all over the globe. The team also works to create profitable partnerships between the pharmaceutical, vaccine, biotechnology, diagnostic, and other defense technology industries and the Department of Health and Human Services (including the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health), the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, the European Commission and various defense and health ministries throughout Europe.
In addition to Binzer, Edward Parkinson and Laura Kilpatrick have recently joined the Public Health Preparedness practice as research analysts. Edward Parkinson previously served with the Homeland Security Committee and Laura Kilpatrick served at the office of Global Health Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services.
McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
McKenna Long & Aldridge is a full-service law firm of approximately 400 lawyers and public policy advisors with offices in Albany, Atlanta, Brussels, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, DC. The firm provides business solutions in the areas of corporate law, government contracts, intellectual property and technology, complex litigation, public policy and regulatory affairs, international law, real estate, environmental, energy and finance. To learn more about the firm and its services, log on to www.mckennalong.com.
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