At its annual general assembly on 30 November 2017 in Brussels / Belgium, MedPharmPlast Europe (MPPE; www.medpharmplasteurope.org), a sector group of European Plastics Converters (EuPC, Brussels; www.plasticsconverters.eu), elected James Stern, global business development manager for Healthcare at Albis (Hamburg / Germany; www.albis.com), as new MPPE president. Stern takes over from Christian Meusinger (Nemera), who was MPPE president for the past two years and remains a member of the board.

Frank De Smedt from Toxikon (Bedford, Massachusetts / USA; www.toxikon.com) has also been elected as a new member of the board. In addition to De Smedt, Stern and Meusinger, the current MPPE board consists of Steve Duckworth (Clariant) as vice president, Nigel Talboys (Terumo BCT) as regulatory task force chair, and members Nicholas Berendt (Sealed Air), Joanne Belshaw (Borealis) and Jan de Boer (Sabic).

MedPharmPlast Europe was founded in 2014 for companies along the entire value chain of plastic medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging in Europe. It focuses on issues such as regulations affecting medical devices and packaging, and represents the industry's interests to European legislators. The group also comprises associations and research institutes involved in relevant R&D.

The next MPPE conference will be held on 5 July 2018. A location for the event is to be confirmed soon.