Petra Laux

Head of Global Public and Government Affairs, Novartis,

Petra Laux is Head of Public Affairs Policy at Novartis, a global position she assumed in 2006 and since held in various organizational set up and scope.

In this role, she creates strategy and oversees implementation of all public affairs policy activities for Novartis businesses and functions, spanning the divisions Innovative Medicines, Alcon, and Sandoz. Prior to that she was Head of EU Public Affairs for the Novartis Group based in Brussels.

Petra Laux specializes in healthcare policy and government affairs. She began her career with Glaxo in Hamburg, Germany as Head of the Healthcare Policy Unit where she established the healthcare policy function. She later became Director of Healthcare and Public Affairs at SmithKlineBeecham in Munich, Germany where she was responsible for health economics, communication and government affairs. Upon the merger of SmithKlineBeecham with Glaxo to form GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Petra Laux subsequently led all corporate and EU government affairs across GSK’s subsidiaries in the European Union. She joined Novartis in 2004.

Petra Laux holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a Master in Public Health from Hannover Medical School in Germany. She is a pharmacist by training.

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