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Kartikeya Desai, Management Consulting Expert in Bern, Switzerland
Kartikeya Desai

Management Consulting Expert in Bern, Switzerland

Member since May 26, 2022
Kartikeya is an experienced healthcare and pharma executive with over 10 years of experience. He has led diverse teams across five countries in roles spanning from driving complex post-merger integrations to building biotech pipelines from scratch. Drove value creation programs like M&A, operating model design, go-to-market strategy, and OpEx leading to a $3 billion cumulative value generated. He is excited to freelance to help organizations build transformative products for society
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Case studies

Expertise

Employment

  • Head of Portfolio Strategy and Operations | Precision Medicine

    2021 - PRESENT
    Novartis
    • Established an organizational blueprint from scratch and set up eight workstreams to deliver a strategic roadmap of the new organization with 130 FTEs and a $120 million budget.
    • Led portfolio management of the diagnostics and biomarker portfolio, driving value creation initiatives across 50 molecules with a cumulative expected NPV of $70 billion.
    • Delivered a 5-year roadmap to the CEO of a San Diego-based diagnostic subsidiary with 180 FTEs and an $80 million budget. Identified technologies, capabilities, and investments to drive future growth strategy.
    • Drove over 10 business development projects of $300 million deal value by managing deal sourcing, due diligence, and term sheet finalization.
    Focus areas: Biotechnology, Portfolio Management, Diagnostics, Valuation, Transactions, Partnership Management, Term Sheets, Strategy, Change Management, Financial Modeling

  • Associate Director of Portfolio Strategy and Management

    2020 - 2021
    Novartis
    • Led initiatives to increase recruitment of underrepresented minorities in clinical trials. Obtained a $20 million commitment to scholarships for black students in healthcare fields and a $14 million investment for a research center at Morehouse University.
    • Established a post-acquisition integration roadmap for gene therapy player acquired for $8.7 billion. Identified synergies that were cumulating to $120 million in savings.
    • Led the Pipeline of the future program. An enterprise initiative to build the R&D pipeline of the future.
    • Established a strategy and an operating model for an R&D center of excellence for digital health products, managing 30 FTEs and a $40 million budget.
    Focus areas: Operational Excellence, Program Management, Digital Health, Change Management, Biotechnology, Medical Devices, ESG, Post-Merger Integration, Post-merger Integration, Portfolio Management

  • Strategy Lead | Operations

    2019 - 2020
    Novartis
    • Delivered savings of $1.1 million through an initiative driving the automation and off-shoring of non-core activities across seven manufacturing sites in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, and Switzerland.
    • Led the rollout of an analytics tool mapping inventory data, $3 billion+value across 60 production sites and 120 countries.
    • Created the blueprint and organized a worldwide hackathon to co-create the 3-year quality transformation plan.
    • Established the Quality Venture Fund, an in-house incubator that injects $1 million per year into high potential ideas across the network.
    • Nominated by Novartis Quality community for the Quality 2018 Award to win two out of the seven awards given at the year-end Townhall to associates for exceptional performance.
    Focus areas: Offshoring, Manufacturing, Operations, Restructuring, Quality Management, Strategy, Operational Excellence, Digital, Change Management

  • Strategy Associate | Task Forces

    2017 - 2019
    Novartis
    • Acted as the program manager for task forces and tiger teams deployed to solve critical issues across the network. Led cross-functional teams spanning manufacturing, commercial, legal, communications, R&D, and supply chains.
    • Scaled the Nitrosamine task force, a task force responding to carcinogenic impurities detected in key products from 5 to 90 FTEs within a year while managing a budget of $19 million.
    • Led the batch release workstream of a critical tiger team by implementing actions to improve the batch release throughput time by 30% enabling inventory savings of $24 million.
    Focus areas: Business Transformation, Turnaround, Crisis Management, Strategy, Production & Quality, Change Management

  • Sandoz Talent Excellence Program

    2015 - 2017
    Sandoz
    • Accelerated rotational program with 9-month assignments in R&D, quality, and manufacturing at different locations worldwide. I was one of the 10 applicants chosen out of around 1,000.
    • Deep-dived past product write-off data and presented an improvement plan to site management.
    • Led the creation and endorsement of the 2017 quality strategic plan. Consolidated a plan to drive initiatives across 60 manufacturing sites and 120 countries.
    Focus areas: Manufacturing, Strategic Planning, Quality Management, Operations, Change Management

  • Strategic Assistant to CEO

    2012 - 2013
    Heubach
    • Drove due diligence activities in joint ventures and M&A deals.
    • Head project manager for a green-field pigment manufacturing plant with an investment value of $20 million.
    • Managed term sheet finalization for the acquisition of a Belgian pigment manufacturing player with an acquisition value of $90 million.
    Focus areas: M&A Modeling, Joint Ventures, Term Sheets, Due Diligence

  • Equity Derivatives | Pharmaceuticals

    2011 - 2012
    Morgan Stanley
    • Managed research coverage for Gilead Sciences (GILD), BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN), and Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ).
    • Compiled detailed reports on industry trends through primary research, industry surveys, KOL interviews, and conference poster analysis.
    • Provided timeline information and impact analysis to traders on catalyst events, upcoming trial readouts, and FDA positioning.
    Focus areas: Equity Derivatives, Biotechnology, Equity Research, Financial Modeling

Education

  • Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering
    2013 - 2015
    ETH Zurich - Zurich, Switzerland
  • Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering
    2007 - 2011
    University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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