Kartikeya Desai, Finance Expert in Bern, Switzerland
Kartikeya is available for hire
Hire Kartikeya

Kartikeya Desai

Verified Expert  in Finance

Management Consulting Expert

Bern, Switzerland

Toptal member since May 26, 2022

Bio

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

Case Studies

Work Experience

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, Valuations, Transactions, Partnership Management, Term Sheets, Design 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, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Post-merger Integrations, Post-merger Integrations, 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, Design Strategy, Operational Excellence, Digital Marketing, 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, Design 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
2013 - 2015

Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering

ETH Zurich - Zurich, Switzerland

2007 - 2011

Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering

University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Finance

Valuations, Financial Modeling, M&A Modeling, Due Diligence, Equity Derivatives, Equity Research, Value Creation, Private Equity

Output Software

Office 2016

Data & Analysis Software

MATLAB, Microsoft Development

Other

Biotechnology, Design Strategy, Portfolio Management, Partnership Management, Change Management, Operational Excellence, Program Management, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Operations, Digital Marketing, Business Transformation, Turnaround, Launch Strategy, Excel VBA, Diagnostics, Transactions, Term Sheets, Digital Health, Medical Devices, Post-merger Integrations, Offshoring, Manufacturing, Restructuring, Quality Management, Crisis Management, Production & Quality, Post-merger Integrations, Miro Development, Canvas, QlikView, Renewables, Startup Development, Strategic Planning, Joint Ventures, Sourcing, Target Sourcing, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), Virtual Coaching, Digital Marketing Product Management

Collaboration That Works

How to Work with Toptal

Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.

1

Share your needs

Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2

Choose your talent

Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3

Start your risk-free talent trial

Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.

Top talent is in high demand.

Start hiring