Tagged with People

Europe Physician and pharma industry veteran Iris Zemzoum is returning to Europe after leading Novartis Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa through the COVID-19 pandemic. As Novartis looks to further hone in on innovation after spinning-off generics and biosimilars division Sandoz, Zemzoum will face a unique set of challenges in her…

Global One of the doyens of European biotech is stepping back from general management. Jean-Paul Clozel founded rare disease focused Actelion along with his wife Martine Clozel in 1997, a company that went on to become publicly traded and launch three blockbuster drugs. The Clozels then sold up to J&J for…

UK Throughout his long career, John-Arne Rottingen has gathered experience across multiple domains from discovery research to public health and diplomacy that led him to become the founding CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI). In January he took on the leadership of the UK-based foundation Wellcome, coinciding with…

Portugal Women account for half of the Portuguese labour force, but Portugal lags behind the European average for women in top positions, as a 2023 McKinsey study shows. However, Portuguese pharma appears to buck this trend, with several women assuming leadership positions within the country. Indeed, over half of the 13…

Spain Brazilian national Maria Fernanda Prado, who began her career in pharma more than 20 years ago, has been at Janssen/Johnson & Johnson for more than half of that time. She has taken on the leadership of a diverse set of geographies —­ from Turkey to Central Europe and Benelux —…

Global After seven years at the helm of the pharma industry’s biggest global trade group, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Thomas Cueni is retiring. Having played a key role in coordinating innovative pharma’s successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic among other achievements, Cueni is passing the reins…

China Two leading regional pharma executives, from Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim respectively have recently moved to head up China operations; perhaps a sign that despite recent geopolitical tensions, multinational biopharma is again/still betting on the country. With innovation-friendly healthcare reforms in place, as well as measures to encourage foreign investment,…

Denmark Danish allergy specialist ALK will have a new CEO in 2024, with current incumbent Carsten Hellmann set to step down after a seven-year spell in the hot seat. Hellmann, 59, will be replaced by the comparatively youthful 45-year-old Peter Halling at the end of the year, which ALK Board Chairman…

Japan In the five years since the Japanese drugmaker began a strategic shift and created an ambitious plan to maintain growth, CEO Kenji Yasukawa helped Astellas move away from its previous business model and bounce back from failing revenues. With the appointment of former chief strategy officer Naoki Okamura as its…

Egypt Egypt country managers tend not to stay in their roles for more than a few years, instead moving on to different pastures when new opportunities arise. However, those that do stay put – such as Roche’s Mohamed Swilam, now approaching his ninth year as general manager for Egypt – can…

Gobal Thomas Schinecker is set to replace long-standing CEO, Severin Schwan, in the leadership shakeup Roche announced a few months ago. Schinecker is known for leading the company’s COVID-19 test kit efforts as the CEO of its diagnostics division, but he comes to the helm after an almost 20-year career at…

Italy The electoral victory of the centre-right coalition in Italy should see far-right firebrand Giorgia Meloni replace former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi as Prime Minister at the end of October 2022, becoming the first woman to ever hold the role. This spirit of change seems also to have permeated…