Pharmatalks Session 1 | Leading Pharmacist in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Altan Demirdere graduated from Galatasaray High School, and received his bachelor’s degree from Marmara University Faculty of Pharmacy.

He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Basel University Faculty of Pharmacy and then went on to study at Istanbul University Institute of Business and Economics, and IMD, Lausanne, Harvard Business School, Boston, and London Business School. 

He started his career as a researcher at Sandoz Basel R&D (research and development) Department between 1980 to 1984.

He held various roles in Sandoz Turkey between 1984 and 1993, including Medical Promotion Officer, Regional Manager, Product Manager, Sales Group Manager, Planning & Control Manager, Marketing and Sales Director, and Assistant General Manager.

After serving as the Central and Eastern Europe Regional President at Sandoz in Basel from 1993 to 1995, he held the roles of General Manager of Hungary, Turkey, and Russia for Sandoz and Novartis.

He established the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Araştırmacı İlaç Firmaları Derneği, AİFD) and chaired the board of directors for six terms, while serving as the country manager of Novartis Turkey from 2002 to 2007.

After he returned to Turkey in March 2015, Dr Altan Demirdere retired from Sandoz as the General Manager of Sandoz Turkey and the Manager of Novartis Group Turkey in March 2022. 

Dr Altan Demirdere has been serving as the General Manager of Exeltis Turkey since November 1, 2022.