Foley Lobbyist Decamps to Nonprofit

Foley Hoag is losing a Washington-based partner who lobbied for health care companies to a nonprofit organization that works to reduce medical expenses through technology, the group announced Tuesday.

Rodger Currie, who has been at Foley for about a year, will join the West Wireless Health Institute as senior vice president of its recently established government affairs department. His first day is June 18.

Currie has lobbied throughout his time at Foley for biopharmaceutical companies Amgen Inc. and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., as well as medical device developer DEKA Research and Development Corp., according to congressional records. And in April, he added another biopharmaceutical company, Chimerix Inc., to his client list.

Before joining Foley, Currie served as senior vice president at DEKA and vice president for government affairs at Amgen. He also spent a stint as senior vice president for law and federal affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

“Rodger Currie’s extensive health care experience in Washington, D.C., combined with the independent and non-partisan status of our institute, will help us bring a fresh, rational voice in policy and regulatory discussions that will benefit patients and the country as a whole,” West Health Chairman Gary West said in a written statement.

Currie couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.