Pharmaceuticals
10 AstraZeneca business development leaders
These ten current and former AstraZeneca business development leaders have held director, senior director, executive director and head roles in transactions, search and evaluation, business development and licensing, and academic alliances at AstraZeneca. A reader can learn how business development leaders work at AstraZeneca from people who have held the role.
Professionals to explore
01—10Christopher D. Church
LinkedInExperience: Head of Technology Search and Evaluation, Strategy and BD&L · AstraZeneca
Head of Technology Search and Evaluation, Strategy and BD&L at AstraZeneca since November 2024, after briefly also leading technology transactions. He was earlier Senior Director, Search & Evaluation and Director, CVRM Search & Evaluation in AstraZeneca's Business Development, Licensing & Strategy group (2021–2024).
Duncan Young
LinkedInExperience: Head of Search & Evaluation, Oncology Business Development · AstraZeneca
Head of Search & Evaluation, Oncology Business Development at AstraZeneca since September 2025, after serving as Executive Director, Search and Evaluation, Oncology Business Development (2023–2025) and Senior Director, Search & Evaluation in Oncology R&D (2019–2022). He earlier worked in academic alliances at AstraZeneca.
Fredrik Röök
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director, Global Business Development · AstraZeneca
Former Senior Director, Global Business Development at AstraZeneca (2021–2026), based in Gothenburg, after serving as Director, Global Business Development (2018–2022) and Associate Director Scientific Partnering & Alliances. He has been Vice President Business Development at Hansa Biopharma since June 2026.
Gayatri Varma
LinkedInExperience: Head of Transactions, Oncology R&D Business Development · AstraZeneca
Head of Transactions, Oncology R&D Business Development at AstraZeneca since December 2022, a role her headline lists at executive director level. She was earlier Senior Director, Transactions, Oncology Business Development & Licensing and Director, Collaborations Partnering & Strategy at MedImmune (2016–2019), and served on the AUTM board.
James S. Pallikal
LinkedInExperience: Director, Business Development, Licensing & Strategy · AstraZeneca
Director, Business Development, Licensing & Strategy at AstraZeneca since December 2022; his profile describes leading search and evaluation of external opportunities from initial strategic screening through deal execution within biopharmaceutical R&D business development. He earlier held biopharmaceutical development roles at AstraZeneca from 2019.
Josefin Tevell
LinkedInExperience: Executive Director, Head of Transactions & Business Case Lead, Business Development & Licensing · AstraZeneca
Executive Director, Head of Transactions & Business Case Lead, Business Development & Licensing at AstraZeneca since January 2026, based in Gothenburg. She previously held transactions roles in AstraZeneca Business Development & Licensing as Senior Director (2024–2026), Director (2021–2024), Associate Director (2020–2021) and Manager (2019–2020).
Matthew Grunseth
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director, Transactions, Oncology Business Development & Licensing · AstraZeneca
Senior Director, Transactions, Oncology Business Development & Licensing at AstraZeneca since February 2023, after serving as Director and Associate Director in the same team from 2021. He was earlier in Technology Licensing & Collaborations at AbbVie (2015–2021); his headline lists licensing and R&D collaborations.
Ola Zaid
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director, Transactions, Oncology R&D · AstraZeneca
Senior Director, Transactions, Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca since February 2023, based in Cambridge, England. She previously worked in business development, transactions and licensing at Cancer Research UK from 2016 to 2023, most recently as Senior Business Development Executive for Cancer Research Horizons.
Paul E. Leon
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director, Business Development, Search & Evaluation, and Partnering · AstraZeneca
Senior Director, Business Development, Search & Evaluation, and Partnering at AstraZeneca since August 2024; his profile says he heads the BD search and evaluation and partnering team for the Infectious Disease Unit. He earlier led government and NGO strategy at AstraZeneca and was Director, Alliance Management in business development and licensing.
Susanna Myhre
LinkedInExperience: Head of Academic Alliances · AstraZeneca
Head of Academic Alliances at AstraZeneca since August 2023; her profile describes leading a multinational team that supports major transactions relating to academic collaborations for BioPharmaceuticals R&D. She was Director Academic Alliances in Business Development and Licensing from 2016 to 2023, after research scientist roles at AstraZeneca.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person's scope to your question, since search and evaluation, transactions, technology search, partnering and academic alliances involve different work. Check whether the person's role is current or former and which therapeutic area it covers, since both shape what they can speak to.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How does a pharmaceutical company screen external opportunities before committing to due diligence?
- 02How are transaction teams organized across oncology and biopharmaceuticals?
- 03How do academic alliance teams structure collaborations with universities?
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About this directory
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