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NEW JERSEY, USA // Shailaja is one of the rare pharma marketing professionals that have developed their career to have balanced, complete experience rather than specialise in a narrow area.

With over 20 years of experience, she has included consumer and pharma marketing experience. In pharma marketing again, she has experience in mass market or blockbuster brands, vaccines and in specialty therapies. 

Geographically, she has spent the latter half of her career in leadership roles in the US but built her foundation in India and other Asia-Pacific markets.

Currently, Shailaja is a Senior Director at Mallinckrodt pharmaceuticals and is responsible for leading Auto Immune Rare Diseases – Pulmonology franchise for the US market.

Prior to this, in her eight years at Merck, she worked her way up from Business Unit Director for the Vaccines business in India to the contraceptives portfolio in Asia-Pacific to Global Marketing Director at Merck’s global headquarters in the US working on a variety of therapy areas, such as, Vaccines, Women’s Health and HIV products, finally moving in to Commercial Strategy on Merck’s key business of Women’s Health.

In India, her brand, Gardasil was awarded the prestigious OPPI (Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India) award for best new launch.

Prior to Merck, Shailaja spent over ten years in consumer marketing in India, mostly at Johnson & Johnson’s Consumer business working on legendary consumer healthcare brands like Splenda, Listerine and Benadryl.  

She believes that there is a critical need in pharma marketing to target and engage an increasing number of stakeholders, besides physicians – policy makers, payers, consumers, patients, care givers and advocacy groups. And she loves developing marketing plans for each stakeholder that help derive commercial benefit as well as fulfill unmet needs for patients.

Her persistent reading of non-fiction, biographies and philosophers helps keep her inspired and on this path.