Rie Nakajima
Chief Operating Officer and Head of North America
Rie Nakajima joined Santen on March 1, 2023 when she was appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Rie oversees corporate strategy, portfolio management, new business development, and executive functions such as commercial excellence.
Over the last 20 years, Rie has accumulated a wide range of experience in the automotive industry, management consulting, and the pharmaceutical industry. In the pharmaceutical industry, she has managed global organizations mainly in the areas of management strategy and commercial excellence in Japan as well as Asia and Europe.
Rie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in law from the University of Tokyo.
Our Executive Leadership Team for Santen USA—which covers the US and Canada—is connected by a shared passion for science, a deep level of industry experience, and an enduring commitment to improving people’s quality of life by restoring and preserving vision.
Masahiro (Mas) Inoue
Chief Administrative Officer
Mas currently serves as Chief Administrative Officer of Santen, Inc., and works at our North American headquarters in Emeryville, CA. Mas joined Santen in 2011 as Head of Asia, and has since held several global leadership roles, including General Manager of Santen's ASEAN and India centers, in addition to Managing Director of Santen Pharmaceutical, Asia.
Reza Haque, MD, PhD
Senior Vice President, Global R&D
Global Head of Ophthalmic Innovation Center (OIC)
Reza Haque, MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist, leads the Strategic Innovation Group and develops Santen’s global science strategy. In this position, Dr. Haque shapes the operational direction of our disease-area portfolios to align with short-term goals and long-term strategy. He has served in this Ophthalmic Innovation Center (OIC) capacity since April 2020 and has been Senior Vice President & Global Head of R&D Strategy since 2018. Dr. Haque works from our North American headquarters, a corporate office of Santen Global, in Emeryville, CA.
Peter Sallstig, MD, MBA
Global Head Product Development
Division & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Sallstig oversees the Product Development Division globally from our North American headquarters, a corporate office of Santen Global, in Emeryville, CA. He joined Santen in 2018 with more than 20 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry at national and international levels, across large multinationals and small biotechs. Before assuming his current role in 2020, Dr. Sallstig served as the Global Head of Development.
Megan Arganbright, SHRM-CP
Head of Human Resources (non-GRD) North America
Megan joined Santen in 2018 and has since advanced to her current position as Head of Human Resource North America. As a member of the North American Leadership and Global HR leadership teams, Megan oversees business strategy, manages people development and drives support of corporate objectives. Her strategic advice provides support and counsel to senior leadership and associates in all HR-related areas.
Craig Eng
Senior Director, Head of Global Safety Operations
Craig has served as Head of Global Safety Operations for Santen since 2020. In this position, he has led global initiatives in the unification of safety processes. Prior to his current position, Craig served as Senior Director of Global Safety Vigilance Systems since 2019, and Director of Global Pharmacovigilance since 2017. His specialties in the pharmaceutical industry include safety and risk management, safety operations, and investigational product management.
Stacey Miller
Director, Global Human Resources (HR) Business Partner
Stacey joined Santen in 2021 as the Global HR Business Partner for R&D. She is a seasoned HR leader and strategic business partner with a proven history of success delivering results and providing sound guidance. As a member of the Global HR leadership team, Stacey coordinates regional HR Business Partners in support of a unified HR platform across Global R&D. She has more than 25 years of experience and leads Santen's R&D HR team and HR initiatives from our North American headquarters, a corporate office of Santen Global, in Emeryville, CA.
Flavio Lima, MD
Vice-President, Global Medical Affairs
Dr. Lima joined Santen in 2021 as Vice-President of Global Medical Affairs. He has extensive training including a degree in Medicine, residencies in Pathology, Internal Medicine and Cardiology. Dr. Lima’s professional experience spans more than 30 years in the Biopharma industry, working across multiple functions such as Global Medical Affairs, Marketing, Business Development and Clinical Operations. Dr. Lima provides guidance to Global Medical Strategy across three Therapeutic Areas and oversees Medical & Scientific Communications and Publications, Medical Information, and Medical Affairs Strategic Operations.
John Simons
Senior Director, Head of Quality Assurance North America
John is the North American Head of Quality Assurance (QA) for Santen, Inc. He joined Santen in 2018 with previous leadership experience in QA for multiple pharmaceutical companies. John has more than 30 years of QA experience in Pharmaceutical/Biologics including outsourced manufacturing, clinical and commercial quality, inspection readiness, PAIs, Quality Systems, GMP, GCP, and GLP. John has extensive international experience and has led multiple global initiatives in the unification of QA processes.
Steve Kelly
Director, Corporate Communications
Steve serves as the Director of Corporate Communications for Santen, Inc. He is based at our North American headquarters, a corporate office of Santen Global, in Emeryville, CA. Steve joined Santen in 2020 with more than 20 years' experience in corporate communications, brand development, and public relations. He has led communications initiatives for several large multinational healthcare companies including Philips, Abbott, and Cardinal Health.
Laura Walsh, JD
Associate Director, Head of Legal & Corporate Affairs North America
Laura joined Santen, Inc. in 2020 as Associate Director of North American legal matters. She provides strategic counsel to all functions, including commercial, medical affairs, market access, business development, R&D, supply chain, finance, human resources, and venture capital entity. Laura has more than 20 years’ experience in the healthcare industry providing legal counsel for global life science companies.
Marco Langer
Head of Digital & IT North America and Global IT Compliance
Marco joined Santen in 2015 and has risen through the company to his current position as Head of Digital & IT North America and Global IT Compliance. Marco is also a member of the global IT Leadership Team and the North American Management Committee. Before assuming his current position, Marco was the Head of Information Technology in North America and Associate Director of Information System Applications in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
