17 August 2018Big Pharma

LSIPR 50 2018: Alisa Harbin

Name: Alisa Harbin

Organisation: Novartis

Position: Global Head of IP

As global head of IP for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, Alisa Harbin carries a lot of responsibility on her shoulders.

The future is looking bright for Novartis. In March this year, it revealed it had let GSK buy it out of a consumer healthcare joint venture for $13 billion. The joint venture owns brands such as Sensodyne and Horlicks.

Novartis said that the deal will allow it to further focus on the development and growth of its core businesses.

The company prides itself on delivering innovative science-based products to deliver solutions to healthcare issues by celebrating research and development. It owns the companies Alcon and Sandoz.

At the beginning of the year, Novartis announced that its Promacta drug (eltrombopag) received US Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Therapy designation.

The drug has been granted status to be used in combination with standard immunosuppressive therapy to treat people with severe aplastic anaemia as a first-line therapy.

"The company prides itself on delivering innovative science-based products to deliver solutions to healthcare issues by celebrating research and development."

Aplastic anaemia is a rare blood disorder in which the patient’s bone marrow doesn’t produce enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. As a result, sufferers are often left fatigued and can experience recurring infections and abnormal bruising.

In April, Novartis announced plans to acquire gene therapy company AveXis for $8.7 billion.