Altug Ozgun has confirmed that in January 2017 he left the Sandoz to become the Ethics & Compliance Director at Astellas Pharma, Inc.
Astellas Pharma is a Japanese pharmaceutical company, created on April 1, 2005 through the merger of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. It is a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFJ) keiretsu. Its franchise areas are urology, immunology (transplantation), dermatology, cardiology, and infectious disease. Priority areas for R&D are infectious diseases, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, oncology, and diseases of the central nervous system. According to Ozgun, Astellas is currently re-organizing its Ethics & Compliance organization worldwide “to be one of the top tier pharma companies in the compliance area.”
Ozgun has been working as an in-house legal and compliance counsel in the healthcare/life sciences sector for more than 12 years. He started his career as a practicing lawyer in the Ozgun law firm and then continued in multinational companies such as Eastpharma (Deva), then switched from pharma to medical devices in Beckman Coulter (a Danaher company). He continued his career as a Head Legal & Compliance in Sandoz (a Novartis division). He is a graduate of Marmara University and holds an LL.M. from Marmara University European Union Law Institute. He is a member of Istanbul Bar Association.
Ozgun told CEE Legal Matters, “I’m really enthusiastic about this move. I decided to concentrate on Ethics and Compliance and wanted to challenge myself in a young and dynamic organization. Working in a Japanese company with the ‘kaizen’ mindset was the attractive point to decide and I believe this shift will enable me to make a valuable contribution.”
