Dr Samar Al-Behaisi obtained her medical degree in Hungary and went on to complete a PhD, with a focus on clinical oncology and chemotherapy in oncology practice. She subsequently completed a degree in pharmaco-economics with a focus on reimbursement of orphan drugs.
Dr Al-Behaisi joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1996, working initially for two Hungarian pharmaceutical companies as a clinical trial manager and medical advisor, then worked in Hungary with Novartis as senior medical marketing manager for oncology, GSK as oncology medical advisor and Genzyme as oncology medical director.
Moving to Switzerland, she worked for five years at Takeda as oncology medical director for Europe and Canada where she was responsible for opinion-leader relationships, advisory boards and medical education programs, as well as pre-launch and launch activities for several oncology drugs. At Takeda, Dr Al-Behaisi was also responsible for handling, evaluating and approving doctor requests for oncology drugs under the company’s named patient program (NPP).