Two top health care CEOs to speak at fall SABEW conference

JP Garnier, the chief executive officer of drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, and Dave King, the chief executive officer of diagnostic company Laboratory Corporation of America, will be keynote speakers at the fall conference of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, to be held Oct. 20-21 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Both Garnier and King are scheduled to speak on Saturday, Oct. 20, about the health care industry. The fall conference is expected to attract some of the top business journalists in the country.

More information about the fall conference can be found here. The tentative schedule can be found here.

In addition, the SABEW conference will include a panel session on the health care marketplace funded by The Commonwealth Fund.

Garnier (right) became CEO of GlaxoSmithKline in January 2001 with the merger of SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome. He joined SmithKline Beecham in 1990 as president of its pharmaceutical business in North America and served as chairman, Pharmaceuticals from 1994 until being named chief operating officer in 1995.

He was elected to the company's board of directors in 1992. He became chief executive officer of SmithKline Beecham in April 2000. Prior to SmithKline Beecham, Garnier served as president of Schering-Plough’s U.S. business.

During his 15 years at Schering, he held various management positions, including general manager of several overseas subsidiaries. In 1983, he joined the U.S. Pharmaceutical products division serving as vice president of marketing. He was then named senior vice president and general manager of the OTC business and assumed responsibility for sales and marketing for the U.S. prescription business prior to becoming president.

King became chief executive officer of Laboratory Corporation of America in 2006. King, who joined LabCorp in 2001 after working for the international testing services provider as outside counsel, was previously chief operating officer. He has been COO and executive vice president since 2005. His first position with the company was general counsel and chief compliance officer.

King is also a member of LabCorp’s board on directors. He previously was a federal prosecutor in the Baltimore area and worked as a lawyer for the Baltimore-based law firm Hogan & Hartson. He has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Princeton, King taught for several years.

SABEW is a 501(c)(3) education organization representing more than 3,200 journalists from its base at the Missouri School of Journalism. Formed in 1964 to promote superior coverage of business and economic events and issues, it is the only business journalism association for editors and writers.

Posted Sept. 17, 2007