GENEVA, Nov. 5, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations said Wednesday that Eisai Co. President Haruo Naito assumed the post of its president, becoming the first Japanese to head the Geneva-based drug industry body.

His predecessor, Fred Hassan, chairman and chief executive officer of Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE:SGP PRB) (NYSE:SGP) , stepped down as the merger of his firm with Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) was completed before his two-year term as IFPMA head expires.

Naito will serve for the remainder of Hassan's term until the fall of 2010.

In the past, the president's job at the IFPMA went to the leaders of major Western drug companies.

The IFPMA is a nonprofit, non-government organization, which represents major multinational drug companies and industry associations. It works with the United Nations and the World Health Organization to provide H1N1 influenza vaccines and AIDS treatment for patients in developing companies, among its key activities.