Vice President of Scientific Affairs
Ipsen
Girish Aakalu is Ipsen's Vice President of Scientific Affairs North America with responsibility for scientific partnering in US and Canada. Prior to joining Ipsen, Girish was Executive Director and Head of Strategy, Innovation, and Operations for Pfizer’s External R&D Innovation (ERDI) team. In this role, Girish lead several strategic initiatives including establishing R&D Innovate, Pfizer R&D's strategic investment vehicle, and the spinout of Labrys Biologics (acquired by Teva). Girish also played a key leadership role in the Pfizer-Wyeth integration process. Prior to joining Pfizer, Girish was part of Genentech's BioOncology Pipeline Market Planning group where he was responsible for guiding the clinical and commercial strategy for late pre-clinical and early development programs including Kadcyla, Perjeta, and Erivedge. Girish was also part of Genentech's Business Development team. Girish started his career at L.E.K. Consulting. Girish earned both his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology and his MS in Biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. He received his BA in Biophysics from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.