Makarand Bagul

Hi, I’m Makarand Bagul, Senior Medical and Technical Director for the UK and Ireland cluster

"There’s a strong sense of inclusion at Teva, doing the right thing and being able to bring your true self to work, without judgement."

In this role, I’m responsible for providing medical, scientific, and strategic leadership, as well as managing the Medical Affairs, Commercial Quality and Regulatory Affairs functions.

In layman’s terms, this covers wide ranging areas such as representing patients and healthcare professionals during internal strategic discussions, answering queries about a medicine, making sure that all the medicines in our portfolio are consistent and meet the right standards, and ensuring our medicines have correct regulatory and legal approvals.

My teams are often tasked with looking after very detailed and complex data and translating scientific data to design company strategy, while keeping a constant eye on the ever-changing compliance and regulatory landscapes.

After completing my medical degree back in the early 2000s, I spent several years working as a doctor in NHS hospitals in London before moving into the pharmaceutical industry. I gained experience in a range of therapy areas, across geographies as diverse as Europe, Middle East, Russia and Australia. That gave me a good grounding for life at Teva, where a broad generics portfolio and exciting innovative pipeline means you need a wide understanding of a broad spectrum of subjects, aligned with solid commercial acumen.

I love the scientific side of the job, but I’m also passionate about making sure it dovetails with the commercial needs of the business. To bring this even more to the forefront, I recently completed an Executive MBA. I found that giving myself the opportunity to apply strategy theories in a real-world environment was very empowering and rewarding.

Aside from my work, the culture of an organisation is important to me.

There’s a strong sense of inclusion at Teva, doing the right thing and being able to bring your true self to work, without judgement. That’s why I have become involved in the Diversity and Inclusion work that’s a core pillar of our business. I’m sponsor of the race workstream and am also a vocal member of the gender group, participating in some Pride events.

I’m fortunate that I have never really faced any discrimination either for my sexuality or race. But I know others aren’t so lucky, and that’s why I think it is important for me to be an ally – a kind of ‘ally from within’. Everyone has different experiences, and it is our job to create an environment that provides psychological safety. Therefore, by making my voice heard, if one person feels more comfortable with who they are then, for me, that is a success.