Lord David Prior, the former Under Secretary of State to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Minister for NHS Productivity at the Department of Health, will serve as a senior adviser to Lazard, Financial Advisory, effective immediately.
As a senior adviser, Lord Prior will provide strategic counsel to Lazard and its clients, particularly in the healthcare sector.
Dale Raine, managing director and head of Lazard’s European Healthcare team in London, said, “David will bring a unique perspective as a result of his vast knowledge of the healthcare industry and policy. His experience and connectivity will strengthen our ability to help clients to navigate fundamental changes in global healthcare delivery.’’
As Under Secretary to the BEIS, Lord Prior was responsible for the UK Government’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. He worked with industry and government to provide recommendations that would enhance the life sciences sector and enable the UK to become a global hub for medical innovation.
Lord Prior has held a number of senior roles in the healthcare sector, most recently as chairman to University College London Hospital, a role he will continue, as well as chairman of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and chairman of the Care Quality Commission.
Lord Prior is a qualified barrister and former Lazard banker, working for the firm in New York after graduating from Cambridge University.
Lazard has advised or continues to advise clients on a number of significant M&A transactions in the global healthcare sector, including advising Wilson Therapeutics on its sale to Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Servier on its acquisition of Shire Oncology, Express Scripts on its sale to Cigna, Aetna on its merger with CVS, Johnson and Johnson on its acquisition of Actelion, Sanofi on its acquisitions of Bioverativ and Ablynx, Gilead on its acquisition of Kite Pharma and Ariad on its sale to Takeda.
