Heather Bresch (née Manchin; born June 27, 1969[2]) is an American business executive.

Michael Garrison, WVU president at the time, was reported to be "a family friend and former business associate of Bresch" and a former consultant and lobbyist for Mylan.

[14] At a WVU basketball game in 1992, Bresch's father, politician Joe Manchin, mentioned his daughter's job search to Mylan CEO Milan Puskar, and the company soon after offered her a position in the quality control department of a factory in Morgantown, before eventually promoting her to the executive level.

[18] Bresch persuaded several of Mylan's competitors to support what became the Generic Drug User Fee Act, which she proposed to lawmakers in 2010.

[22] Bresch has served in several executive roles at Mylan, such as senior vice president of corporate strategic development,[23] Head of North American Operations,[24] chief operating officer, and chief integration officer.

[21][25] Bresch led the integration of Matrix Laboratories Limited and Merck KGaA's generics and specialty pharmaceutical businesses with Mylan's operations.

[27] Bresch's appointment as chief executive officer (CEO) was announced in 2011, and she officially took the position in January 2012.

[30] Bresch was recognized in Esquire's 2011 "Patriots of the Year" list for her work pushing for the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA).

[33] Bresch said the decision was necessary to "maintain competitiveness against pharmaceutical manufacturers that had already executed similar inversion strategies.

[37] Bresch launched an advertising campaign to increase awareness of "EpiPen" as a treatment for anaphylaxis; the company also successfully lobbied the FDA to broaden the label to include risk of anaphylaxis and in parallel, successfully lobbied Congress to generate legislation making EpiPens available in schools and other public places.

[35][40][41][42] Bresch explained at the 2016 Forbes Healthcare Summit that Mylan's price increases were justified by the many improvements she claimed the company had made to the product.

The lawsuit, which consolidated several consumer cases, was moved to federal court in Kansas City in 2017.

[49] On September 7, 2021, Ryan Grim of The Intercept reported that during an ongoing racketeering case involving Mylan and Bresch,[50] "newly released court documents show [Bresch] discussing a deal with Pfizer to eliminate a chief competitor to EpiPen, clearing the way for major price hikes.

They "also show Bresch approving a scheme to force customers, captured by the company’s monopoly, to purchase two EpiPens at once, regardless of medical need.