Marianthi Psacha is Global Head of Santen’s Cell & Gene Therapy Business Segment, responsible for leading the establishment of a global team dedicated to delivering transformative therapies worldwide in order to improve the lives of patients suffering from inherited retinal diseases.

Marianthi is strengthening Santen’s ophthalmology capabilities and creating a sustainable, scalable platform for future therapies, aiming to unlock the potential of cell and gene therapies to address significant unmet needs. She is supporting Santen’s transformation into a global pharmaceutical company and its emergence as a social innovator. To ensure Santen is ready to tackle the unique challenges related to cell and gene therapies, she has built an organization based on design principles tailored to the characteristics of the field, drawing on learnings from her previous experiences.

Marianthi has worked for 25 years as a commercial leader, spanning local, regional and global levels. She has over 14 years of experience in the pharma industry, primarily focusing on gene therapy, rare diseases, and primary and specialty care. Prior to joining Santen, she rose to the position of Global Head of Gene Therapy, Ophthalmology at Novartis, where she led the launch of the first-ever gene therapy in ophthalmology. Marianthi also successfully set up a new worldwide go-to-market model as a unique asset of the company. She additionally held a general management role in Slovakia where she led a business and cultural transformation focused on creating a work environment for enhanced collaboration.

Marianthi holds an MBA from the Warwick Business School in the UK, a postgraduate degree in leadership capabilities from Glasgow Caledonian University and a bachelor’s degree in economics and management from McGill University in Canada.