Annette Bak

I currently lead the Advance Drug Delivery team at AstraZeneca. As part of my remit, I have been instrumental in delivering new modality formulations for clinical studies, most notably vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA currently evaluated for cardiac regeneration, building intracellular drug delivery capabilities, and sponsoring initiatives on augmenting drug discovery with artificial intelligence.

I have a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Copenhagen, and an MBA from Pepperdine University in California on Change Management and Leadership. Before joining AstraZeneca I worked for Amgen and Merck with responsibility for small molecule and peptide formulations. I built outsourcing partnerships in China, drove in licensing and partnership evaluations, and contributed to getting small molecule therapies to the market.

I have published over 40 articles and serve on the editorial board for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. I also hold several patents for pharmaceutical technologies enabling drug delivery of small molecules and biologics.

I am an advocate of career development for women and chartered the “Women in Pharmaceutical Sciences” movement for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, for which I have been appointed President Elect in 2020.