Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Commercial strategy and launch leader in rare disease and advanced therapies, with a track record of scaling international operations, enabling market expansion, and translating complex science into sustainable commercial performance. Over the past decade, I have operated at the intersection of science, strategy, and execution — building the governance, analytics, and cross-functional alignment required to successfully launch and scale therapies across Europe and Asia. At Mirum Pharmaceuticals, I currently lead international commercial operations, overseeing launch readiness, product and launch governance, competitive intelligence, alliance commercial management, and market analytics. I have coordinated 15+ international launches, supported reimbursement success in multiple markets, built integrated launch-readiness frameworks, and enabled alliance-driven expansion in Asia. My work has directly supported revenue growth, strategic prioritization, and long-range brand planning. Beyond execution, I focus on systems-building: - Designing scalable launch and performance governance structures - Translating market research and demand studies into strategic brand decisions - Leading alliance commercial negotiations and financial analyses - Building cross-functional alignment across commercial, medical, clinical, finance, and supply chain - Developing teams and coaching emerging leaders Earlier in my career, I worked in business development and R&D leadership roles, combining scientific depth (PhD in Chemical & Molecular Sciences) with commercial training (MBA, University of St. Gallen). This dual perspective allows me to evaluate assets from both development and go-to-market lenses and to bridge strategic intent with operational reality. I am particularly motivated by scaling innovative therapies in rare and specialty diseases — where thoughtful launch strategy, stakeholder alignment, and disciplined execution meaningfully impact patient access.
Commercial operations, focused on preparation and execution of launches (assets, indications) as well as business case assessments for go-to-market decision and model. Leadership of extensive cross-functional team (~25 people). Commercial insights and analytics, focused on market research and competitive intelligence, pre-launch and lifecycle management phases ranging from scientific to sales analyses. Market research: sales analytics, Awareness Trial and Usage (ATU) study, patient journey, demand study. Competitive intelligence: field insights, leading scientific and promotional dissemination of conferences, insights from new scientific publications, press releases, earnings / investor calls. Strategic alliance management (out-licensing partnership): lead for alliance relationships and commercial aspects for Japan, Greater China, South Korea.
Main responsibilities: - Launch readiness for international markets - Launch performance in core European markets - management of alliance partnerships in Asia - competitive intelligence insight generation for international markets
Treatment center engagement lead. Business operations strategy EU. - Leading workstream to customize business operations strategy, activities and materials in preparation for a gene therapy product launch in a new therapeutic area for the company; represented the operational organization in cross-functional brand team - Assessing capacity of treatment centers with consultant support, optimizing treatment center network and market entry strategy - Evaluating patient demand and treatment capacity for sales & operating planning (S&OP) - Acting as prime point of contact for CMO, ensuring alignment with internal manufacturing and supply chain functions - Developed lean digital tracking and reporting system, ensuring projects remain in time & on budget and internal alignment on changes is retained - Designed and held workshop to optimize approach to virtual, hybrid and on-site engagements for customer facing European functions upon lift of COVID-19 measures - Represented EU interests in development and roll-out of global contract management program
Treatment center engagement lead. - Managed cross-functional, geographically dispersed teams, including commercial, legal, medical, IT and technical operations functions, to launch gene therapies in qualified treatment centers in several European countries, incl. Germany, UK, Greece, Denmark - Established strong rapport with key opinion leaders and top hospital management across top EU markets, forming strong trust and relations - Negotiated master service agreements with hospitals in close collaboration with data privacy and legal, providing compliant partnership contracts - Streamlined formal internal decision-making processes, reducing internal turn-around time in contract negotiations by 75% - Organized EU-wide meeting to train and update staff on treatment center engagement - Formulated and aligned first response strategy to adapt operations to new COVID-19 environment
Business Development & Licensing - Sourced and evaluated external partners for specific R&D problems, acquiring new programs and starting internal integration - Scouted for partnering and out-licensing of own assets to bigger biotech - Assessed internal R&D projects with risk adjusted NPV methods, translating R&D projects into financially valued M&A assets - Divested programs after shift in strategic direction, terminating operative collaborations and settling IP questions Marketing & Sales - Led relaunch of main website and adjustment of newsletters and social media marketing, supporting expansion to new market segment - Analyzed regional sales channel performances, providing the CEO with insights and improvement plans - Managed expanding network of distributors in Europe, North America and Asia, providing international foothold with lean own resources - Established a concise customer and partner relationship management, decreasing response times by 50% - Post-M&A integration of own marketing function into the global operations of the acquirer
Management of internal R&D and of external R&D collaborations (immuno-oncology therapeutics, affinity reagents). - Managed publicly co-funded R&D projects for reagent and drug development (immuno-checkpoint inhibitors) - Coordinated activities with international network of academic and industrial partners, resulting in new IP - Discussed in-licensing opportunities and term sheets with academic partners, securing development rights - Sourced and evaluated external partners for specific R&D problems, expanding the portfolio with joint projects
Continuation of research activities, with increased independence and responsibility. Moreover: - Peer-reviewed articles and grant applications as community service
PhD student in the group of Prof. Gilles Gasser. - Researched in chemical biology, leading to 10 publications in scientific journals and books (see publication section below) - Presented at international conferences, e.g. in China and France, resulting in subsequent collaborations - Management of research projects - Responsibility for purchase of lab equipment and consumables - Supervision and guidance of students during their Master’s thesis and in lab courses - Additional training courses, including patent law
Project lead for R&D cooperation in the field of bio-nanotechnology, between the research group of Prof. Udo Bach (Monash University) and Prof. Gilles Gasser (University of Zurich). - Headed team from Zurich and Melbourne in bio-nanotechnology project, resulting in a high-impact publication and award-winning presentation