Jesús Ponce
He studied Business Administration at the University of Deusto (Bilbao) and Heriott Watt University (Edinburgh). He also holds a Master’s degree in Pharma Management from IE-Instituto de Empresa (Madrid).
He joined AstraZeneca in Spain after having held the position of consultant at Andersen Consulting for several years. After initially working in the IS/IT Department, Jesús held various positions and roles in Marketing and Sales for Gastrointestinal, Infectious, CNS, Urology and Oncology brands.
In 2008 he moved to Portugal as Sales PC and Marketing Director, where he led the reorganisation of the company in parallel to achieving 24% business growth for two consecutive years.
Back in Spain at the end of 2010, he held the positions of VP Sales and Marketing Director, and was active in the implementation of the company’s regional and access structure. He also led key brand launches through a series of parallel process re-engineering.
In 2012 he joined the company’s global structure in London, where he developed various positions of responsibility and leadership in several franchises.
In May 2015 he returned to Portugal as Country President, leading a cultural change and turning AstraZeneca Portugal into a leading company in its key therapeutic areas (Oncology, Cardiometabolism and Respiratory), transforming it into the #2 in the market and Great Place to Work in Portugal for 3 consecutive years.
Currently, since April 2019, Jesús serves as CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals and President of Novartis Group Spain. Jesús believes in value-based management and team building. He is passionate about working to create innovative treatments that help improve the lives of the greatest number of patients around the world.