Paula has 20 years of experience with a comprehensive US and ex-US global background within the healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech, and management consulting sectors. She is known as an innovative, strategic and motivational leader with a passion for driving enhanced and sustainable access to healthcare and medicines for all individuals. Paula’s work helps illuminate future opportunities as well as challenges for how innovation can be brought to market in an affordable way because of the value the health solution creates to the specific ecosystem - patients, caregivers, health systems, markets, companies, and society – is fully considered. Therefore, her work paves the way for responsive adoption when innovation is launched and for universal sustainable funding, so that all patients who stand to benefit from the new health solutions are included. Paula’s areas of expertise span across industry value chain including Strategic Planning, Launch and Operational Excellence, Market Access, Price and Negotiations. She has a proven track record in leading Global, Regional and Local product launches, initially as a consultant and after working in the Pharmaceutical Industry in different roles, teams and therapeutic areas. Paula brings a unique approach to her leadership and work combining a Doctorate in Pharmacy and business acumen gained through education (INSEAD Chief Strategy Officer Programme, Executive MBA at IESE and MSc in Health Economics at University Pompeu Fabra), practical experience in international, multi-lingual and cross-cultural pharmaceutical/biotech/consulting industries (UCB Biopharma, Almirall S.A., McCann Health) and from living abroad in the UK, Spain and Belgium. Paula is originally from Portugal and in the last six years she is living in Belgium with her family.
Specialty and rare disease launches bring unique challenges: intricate pricing dynamics, high-stakes access negotiations, and fragmented stakeholder landscapes. In such environments, agility means more than reacting quickly - it’s about anticipating hurdles, aligning cross-functional teams, and making decisive pivots without undermining long-term objectives. In this panel, Enrique & Paula will unpack how launch leaders manage the balance between strategy and adaptability, with a particular lens on access, pricing, and stakeholder engagement.
Walk away with frameworks and case examples that show how agile, well-prepared teams sustain momentum in the most complex therapeutic areas.
Wrapping up the summit, we will come together to underline the key insights, highlight actions and equip ourselves with next steps to elevate launch excellence in our own organizations.
This is a collaborative session dedicated to:
· Translating the event learnings into practical next steps for their launch teams
· Identifying personal and organizational opportunities for capability growth
Committing to a clear post-event action plan for long-term excellence
Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Paula.
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