S
Andrin Oswald
Global Head of Development Franchises, Novartis
GLOBAL: Was a Red Cross delegate in Nepal
FORMERLY: Country head for South Korea
With only eight years in the industry, Andrin Oswald, MD, has clearly been fast-tracked for approval. Early-on, Oswald, 37, traded his MD coat for a business suit, then left McKinsey for the International Red Cross in Nepal. "I pursued learning opportunities," he says. "Sometimes a step that seemed unusual turned out to be a great asset in the next role."
Andrin Oswald
Oswald is no stranger to the executive suite, having started out as assistant to CEO Dani Vasella. Soon he was dispatched to South Korea as country head, just as new trade packs were unlocking that fast-growing market. But in the wake of FDA knockdowns of Galvus, Prexige, and Zelnorm, Oswald was called back to HQ to help execute new pharma chief Joe Jimenez's development model.
Like many docs who join pharma, Oswald says his passion is to reach suffering people. He should be in hog heaven with Novartis' 20 NDAs due on deck by 2010 and 150 compounds currently in the pipeline. He may also be in the horse race to become the next CEO; should Vasella, 54, decide to kick back after making the new revolution at Novartis, it wouldn't be unusual to expect a successor in his own mold: a pharma exec with a physician's sensibility with one eye on his company's stock value, the other on its social value.
Sanofi Bolsters Immunology Pipeline with Acquisition of Dren Bio’s DR-0201 for Up to $1.9 Billion
March 20th 2025DR-0201, a CD20-directed bispecific antibody, has demonstrated robust B-cell depletion in early clinical studies, showing promise in treating refractory B-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.
The Misinformation Maze: Navigating Public Health in the Digital Age
March 11th 2025Jennifer Butler, chief commercial officer of Pleio, discusses misinformation's threat to public health, where patients are turning for trustworthy health information, the industry's pivot to peer-to-patient strategies to educate patients, and more.
Navigating Distrust: Pharma in the Age of Social Media
February 18th 2025Ian Baer, Founder and CEO of Sooth, discusses how the growing distrust in social media will impact industry marketing strategies and the relationships between pharmaceutical companies and the patients they aim to serve. He also explains dark social, how to combat misinformation, closing the trust gap, and more.
Phase III Trials Show Povorcitinib Significantly Improves Hidradenitis Suppurativa Outcomes
March 19th 2025In the Phase III STOP-HS1 and STOP-HS2 trials, results show that patients treated with povorcitinib for hidradenitis suppurativa experienced a ≥50% reduction in the total abscess and inflammatory nodule count.