Vas Narasimhan
Early in Vas Narasimhan's career as a physician scientist, he worked on programs for treating HIV/AIDS in Africa and saw the impact of medicine in places that need it most. The experience inspired Narasimhan to lead development of drugs and vaccines for more than two decades. But treatments didn't always reach the neediest, and he 'dreamed of having a much bigger impact on the world,' he says.
In 2018, he became CEO of Novartis and seized the opportunity to direct the company's vast resources for transformative change. In the past year alone, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved new uses of Novartis' drugs for three devastating diseases: breast cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, and prostate cancer. 'These approvals will change the paradigm for treating cancer patients,' Narasimhan says.
The medicine now approved for use against prostate cancer, called Pluvicto, is an example of Novartis' investment in radioligand therapy—where a small radioactive molecule, delivered intravenously, destroys cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Narasimhan thinks it could revolutionize medicine. He is similarly excited about AI, which is accelerating Novartis' clinical trials, and the company's cell and gene therapies, including a new form of its treatment for spinal muscular atrophy designed to help a broader range of children. The CEO hasn't forgotten his scientist roots, still scrutinizing the data from clinical trials.
He's also staying true to his ultimate goal: 'advancing these novel technologies at scale.' With his leadership, Novartis last year became the No. 1 pharmaceutical company for improving access to medicine in low-to-middle-income countries, according to the Access to Medicine Foundation. More than 1 billion people in over 70 countries have received Novartis' treatments for malaria largely at no profit to the company, Narasimhan says. Bringing his early-career visions of changemaking to fruition, he says, is 'incredibly rewarding.'
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