Our Faculty

Prof. Dr Lieven Annemans

Prof. Dr Lieven Annemans has participated in more than 400 health economic evaluations in over 20 countries across a wide spectrum of therapeutic areas. He has also been involved as an expert in a large number of Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) and is actively involved in HTA on a European level.

Lieven has a unique profile: academic professor, past-president of ISPOR, author of Health economics for non-economists (Pelckmans Pro, 2018), trainer and consultant.

Highly respected for his vast international and cross-therapeutic experience, Lieven is a sought-after advisor and educator to health policy makers and the innovative healthcare industry.

Gary Johnson

Gary is the Founder & Chairman of Inpharmation, Europe’s most respected pharma forecasting & pricing specialist consultancy, and the author of "Value Pricing for Market Access: Evidence-Based Pricing for Pharmaceuticals" and "Sales Forecasting for Pharmaceuticals: An Evidence Based Approach".

Gary and his team have been involved in the pricing and/or forecasting of around half of the new molecular entity launches over the past 5 years.

Dr Nick Proctor

Dr Nick Proctor has been a senior consultant to the pharmaceutical industry for over 25 years, most recently as a Partner with Access Infinity. He has led pricing, reimbursement, and access projects for the majority of the world’s top pharmaceutical brands and manufacturers.

Nick has a strong background in pricing, evidence synthesis, health economics and outcomes research, as well as experience working with payers in all major developed and emerging international health markets.

A CELforPharma faculty member since 2015, Nick is a very passionate trainer. He actively engages participants in discussions and is highly experienced in leading interactive sessions.

Louisa Oliver Byrne

Louisa Oliver Byrne leads Access Infinity’s US Managed Care Centre of Excellence, providing advanced strategic insights and training to the consulting team.

She is a highly experienced global pricing and market access consultant with over 7 years’ experience, having led numerous US managed care focused engagements to support brands of all sizes with their evidence generation plans, payer value stories and pricing for US commercial success. 

Louisa is an author of multiple peer-reviewed market access publications establishing burden, health utilities and treatment management approaches using approaches including TTO and Delphi. 

Maaike Addicks, MD

A medical doctor by training, Maaike Addicks is an independent Medical Affairs consultant with expertise in strategic development, change management, and competency building.

She has over 15 years of on-the-job experience in Medical Affairs in biotech, mid-sized, and large pharma companies, across a wide spectrum of therapeutic areas.

She is the President of the Medical Affairs Commission of the Dutch Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine (NVFG).

Maaike is a passionate trainer and consultant, highly respected for her hands-on approach and strategic expertise in Medical Affairs management.

Ben Harbour

Ben Harbour is VP Global Accounts with Precision AQ (the new name of Across Health), Europe's leading consultancy specialising in omnichannel customer engagement strategies for life science organisations. 

Ben is a strategic advisor to pharma, biotech and medical device companies on omnichannel communication programmes at the corporate, regional and brand level. 

He has extensive international experience spanning the clinical, medical and commercial phases of product development across a wide range of therapeutic indications. 

Ben has built a very strong reputation within the international digital pharma community as a high-impact consultant and trainer.

Chris Toller

Chris Toller is a leading international consultant in pharmaceutical Medical Affairs who has worked with Medical Affairs teams across the globe. Currently, he is Managing Partner at Havas Life Medicom UK. 

After his education as a physician, Chris built a career that has enabled him to work with Medical Affairs teams all over the world and in just about every therapy area. He has devised Medical Affairs strategies and implemented programmes to support more than 50 medical brands on behalf of the world’s leading pharma companies. 

In working with these Medical Affairs teams, Chris has discovered over the years what distinguishes a successful Medical Affairs executive from the average performer. Besides being a creative strategic thinker, Chris is an excellent communicator and an inspirational presenter.

Expert faculty member of:

Dr Patrik Frei

Dr Patrik Frei is Founder & CEO of Venture Valuation, specialists in independent assessments and valuation of emerging high-growth companies in biotechnology and life sciences.

He is Europe’s top valuation expert of high-growth life science companies and author of Assessment and Valuation of High Growth Companies.

Patrik and his team carried out valuations for the Novartis Venture Fund.

He is the owner of Biotechgate, the global business development database for the life science industry.

Edouard Demeire

Edouard Demeire is a Visiting Professor at CEDEP (INSEAD) and the author of KICCASS PHARMA – Keep it Customer Centric, Agile & Strategically Simple In Pharma & Diagnostic Management (2020).

He has contributed to the design of Roche’s and Novartis’ brand planning processes and runs courses for marketing and non-marketing audiences worldwide.

Edouard has developed business simulations and decision support tools for the healthcare industry and has trained tens of thousands of executives worldwide on pharma marketing strategy since 1990.

Edouard encourages you to think “out of the box”. He challenges his audience and, while he is an authority on pharma marketing strategy, he also transposes learnings from other industries to stimulate creative thinking. His approach sparks plenty of new ideas!

Expert faculty member of:

Dr Roger Cox

Dr Roger Cox has 30 years of licensing experience encompassing both big and small pharma/biotech companies.

Currently Regional Advisor for UK and Europe with Plexus Ventures, Roger was formerly Executive Director with J&J’s Global Pharma BD Group where he negotiated over 50 commercial licence agreements.

Expert faculty member of:

David Scott

Formerly a pharma BusDev & Licensing executive, David Scott has worked as a Senior BD&L Consultant since 1996.

He has concluded numerous inward and outward licensing agreements for clients covering small molecules, biologicals and delivery technologies.

David is the author of Scrip’s best-selling report Practical Guide to Pharmaceutical Licensing.

Expert faculty member of:

Dr Carlos Velez

Dr Carlos Velez is the Founder and Managing Partner of Lacerta Bio, an international consultancy specialising in both in- and out-licensing of prescription and non-prescription product candidates and commercial products, across multiple therapeutic areas and markets.

Prior to that, Carlos built a 10+ years career in senior Business Development roles at Penwest Pharmaceuticals, Lantic Therapeutics Forest Labs, and Genencor (now Danisco).

Carlos has trained and consulted with life science executives around the world on in- and out-licensing. Participants applaud him for his excellent didactic approach and his ability to draw from his vast experience in BD & Licensing.

James Turnbull

James Turnbull is the Founder of the omnichannel-native medcomms agency Camino. Equipped with a computer science degree, he pioneered the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to medical affairs.

He has spoken on the use of AI at conferences from ISMPP, MAPS, and PING, and has frequently shared case studies and examples from his own experiences at the cutting edge of AI’s application to pharma challenges.

Throughout his more than fifteen years in leadership roles, James has helped healthcare brands grow and thrive through innovative solutions, earning many industry awards.

Expert faculty member of:

Manuel Mitola

Manuel Mitola is Partner & Head of AI Consulting at ctcHealth, a specialist pharma consultancy focused on the transformation of marketing, sales and commercial excellence through the adoption of AI technologies.

His expertise is regularly showcased at various AI in Pharma conferences, and he actively shares case studies on his LinkedIn profile and YouTube channel. Manuel authored a chapter on AI for Pharma Marketing in the 2019 book "AI Marketing", published by HOEPLI. Additionally, he has trained numerous pharma managers, professionals and students in his role as a guest professor at IULM University (Milan).

During various marketing and digital innovation roles at Eli Lilly and Menarini, Manuel led the adoption of new technologies and capabilities, including AI. He has designed innovative omnichannel strategies and contributed to the successful launches of multiple brands in oncology and neuroscience.

Expert faculty member of:

Prof. Dr Thomas Wilke

Prof. Dr Thomas Wilke has more than 25 years of experience in leading and conducting European and German RWE studies, including database studies, linked data studies, medical chart reviews, and surveys.

In addition to being an academic researcher and author of numerous articles, Thomas leads the university-affiliated institute IPAM and acts as a senior scientist at GIPAM, a consultancy specialising in European RWE studies.

Thomas has been on CELforPharma’s faculty since 2023 and participants consistently praise him for his engaging teaching style and his extensive knowledge and pragmatic approach to RWE.

Dr Kristof Theys

Dr Kristof Theys is a Health Economics and Data Science Manager at AxTalis from the MAP Group, a specialist pharmaceutical and biotechnology management consultancy focused on accelerating patient access to medicines, devices and diagnostics.

In his role within market access and medical affairs, he focuses on health economic modelling and the creation of decision support tools, while also leading analyses of real-world clinical data to further support patient access to innovative treatments.

Kristof holds an MSc in Bioinformatics, received a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the KU Leuven and held various FWO mandates for postdoctoral research in clinical and epidemiological virology. 

Dr Stefan Walzer

As the founder and CEO of MArS Market Access & Pricing Strategy GmbH, Dr Stefan Walzer initiated the application of AI platforms and tools in the area of market access to revolutionise dossier preparation, payer negotiations, and strategic decision-making.

Stefan's impressive career includes pivotal roles such as Global Payer Strategy Leader at F. Hoffmann – La Roche AG, author of over 40 peer-reviewed articles and 400 abstracts, as well as a recognised lecturer on market access, pricing, and negotiation at leading universities in Germany. 

Stefan holds a PhD in Health Economics from the University of Zurich, alongside qualifications from the University of Tübingen and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. 

Expert faculty member of:

Jean-Sebastien Struyf

Jean-Sebastien Struyf is Senior Strategy Consultant with Precision AQ (the new name of Across Health), Europe's leading consultancy specialising in omnichannel customer engagement strategies for life science organisations. 

Before joining Across Health, Jean-Sebastien led (directly and indirectly) extensive teams at leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Novartis and Bristol-Myers Squibb, in a range of commercial and strategic roles in Belgium & Europe and in direct cooperation with global HQs, in the areas of marketing, salesforce effectiveness, and multichannel customer engagement. 

At Across Health Jean-Sebastien has worked on countless multi-channel projects for leading pharmaceutical and medtech companies across various therapeutic areas. 

Olga Duvillard

Olga Duvillard is a senior consultant at Precision AQ (the new name of Across Health) with over 8 years of experience navigating the landscapes of Multichannel and Commercial Excellence roles across Pharmaceutical and Software as a Service (SaaS) industries. Her true passion lies in shaping omnichannel customer engagement strategies for life science organisations.

At Precision AQ (the new name of Across Health), Olga has supported clients specialising in both primary and secondary care, ranging from consumer healthcare to vaccines, respiratory treatments, and cancer drugs. Throughout the product lifecycle, she has built Omnichannel strategies for launch & growth products, as well as loss of exclusivity Omnichannel go-to-market models.

With her multi-country and multi-industry experience, Olga brings a deep understanding of customer needs and business priorities, enabling her to drive actions that enhance outcomes for patients, healthcare providers, and industry stakeholders.

Sam Johnson

As Board Director and Head of Research and Development, Sam leads the development of forecasting and pricing technologies at Inpharmation, Europe’s most respected pharma forecasting & pricing specialist consultancy.

Sam and the team at Inpharmation have been involved in the pricing and/or forecasting of around half of the new molecular entity launches over the past 5 years.

Jo Lopez

Jo Lopez is Practice Lead Early Commercialisation and Launch Excellence at Uptake—a global value-driven independent healthcare consultancy focused on driving uptake across the pharma and biotech industry.

She is an international pharmaceutical leader with over 20 years of experience, specialising in launch excellence and early commercialisation. Before joining Uptake, she held senior global launch roles at GSK, as well as local commercial and market access roles at Roche.

Jo joined the CELforPharma faculty in 2023, and participants praise her for her deep expertise, engaging teaching style, and ability to provide practical, actionable insights that can be immediately applied to real-world launch scenarios.