Alex Azar

Alex Michael Azar II (born June 17, 1967) is an American attorney, businessman, lobbyist, and former pharmaceutical executive who served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2018 to 2021.

Azar was born on June 17, 1967, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the son of Lynda (Zarisky) and Alex Michael Azar Sr.

His father is a retired ophthalmologist who practiced ophthalmology in Salisbury, Maryland, for more than 30 years, and taught at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

His grandfather emigrated from Lebanon in the early 20th century.

The family originates from Amioun.

Azar attended Parkside High School in Salisbury, Maryland, where he graduated in 1985.

He received a B.A. degree summa cum laude in government and economics from Dartmouth College in 1988.

He belonged to the Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity.

He earned a J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1991, where he served as a member of the executive committee of the Yale Law Journal.

After law school, from 1991 to 1992, Azar served as a law clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Azar left after six weeks, and was replaced in Kozinski's chambers by Brett Kavanaugh.

Azar subsequently clerked for the remainder of the term for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

From 1992 to 1993, he served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court.

From 1994 to 1996, he served as an associate independent counsel for Ken Starr in the United States Office of the Independent Counsel, where he worked on the first two years of the investigation into the Whitewater controversy.

At the time of Azar's appointment, he was working as an associate in Starr's law firm.

Between 1996 and 2001, Azar worked for Wiley Rein, a Washington, D.C., law firm, where he achieved partner status.

Azar served as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS) from 2001 to 2005.

On August 3, 2001, Azar was confirmed as general counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

George W. Bush's first HHS secretary, Tommy Thompson, said Azar played an important role in responding to the 2001 anthrax attacks, ensuring there was a vaccine ready for smallpox, and dealing with outbreaks of SARS and influenza.

On July 22, 2005, he was confirmed as the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services; he served in that capacity until his January 2007 resignation.

On July 22, 2005, Azar was confirmed as the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services.

He was twice confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate.

Azar resigned in January 2007.

In June 2007, Azar was hired by Eli Lilly and Company chief executive officer Sidney Taurel to be the company's top lobbyist and spokesman as its senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications.

Azar left the position after the 2008 United States presidential election was won by Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama and the corporation wanted to replace Azar with a Democrat in that role.

In April 2009, Azar became vice president of Lilly's U.S. Managed Healthcare Services organization and its Puerto Rico affiliate.

In 2009, the company paid $1.415 billion to settle criminal charges regarding its promotion of antipsychotic drug Zyprexa (olanzapine) for off-label uses between 1999 and 2005.

From 2012 to 2017, Azar was president of the U.S. division of Eli Lilly and Company, a major drug company, and a member of the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a large pharmaceutical trade association.

In 2021, he was appointed a senior executive in residence at the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami.

Effective January 1, 2012, Azar became president of Lilly USA, LLC, the largest division of Eli Lilly and Company, and was responsible for the company's entire operations in the United States.

Prices for drugs rose substantially under Azar's leadership, including the tripling of the cost of the company's top-selling insulin drug.

Also under Azar's watch, Eli Lilly was one of three companies accused in a class-action lawsuit of exploiting the drug pricing system to increase profits for insulin.

Eli Lilly was also fined in Mexico for colluding on the price of insulin.

In connection with the position, Azar served on the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a pharmaceutical lobby.

Azar was nominated to his post by President Donald Trump on November 13, 2017, and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 24, 2018.

Working under Secretary Mike Leavitt, Deputy Azar supervised the operation of HHS, which would grow to an annual budget of over $1 trillion by 2017 when he was appointed secretary.

Azar led the development and approval of HHS regulations, led U.S. government efforts to encourage worldwide pharmaceutical and medical device innovation, and was in charge of the HHS response to an initiative implemented by President George W. Bush to improve government performance.

In January 2017, Azar resigned from Eli Lilly "to pursue other career opportunities" as a result of a company reorganization.

He also resigned from the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

He was also chairman of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from its inception in January 2020 to February 2020, when he was replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.