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A world class team brimming with
expertise, passion and talent

Every member of our staff is passionate about access for Rare Diseases

Sophie Schmitz

Managing Partner
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Samantha Morrison

Executive Director
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Josephina (Pina) Haberl

Senior Director
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Aurelija Luko

Chief Financial Officer
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Georgina Rack

Head of Operations
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Owen Bryant

Creative Director
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Darren Callanan

Global Digital Lead
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Joanna Fernandes

Associate Director
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Fisentzos Stylianou

Consultant
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Iro Malekou

Associate Consultant
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Beth McCormick

Senior Analyst
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Johann Sanséau

Senior Analyst
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Marco Crisci

Senior Analyst
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Chrystalla (Christia) Mouzoura

Senior Analyst
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Angeliki Meletsi

Senior Analyst
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Marco Sancandi

Analyst
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We are award winning global experts in access for orphan drugs and Cell and Gene Therapies.

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Purple is Sophie's power colour

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Sophie Schmitz

Managing Partner

Sophie is Managing Partner at Partners4Access, the global access experts for orphan drugs, cell and gene therapy. She brings a wealth of commercial and access experience across orphan and cell and gene therapies to the benefit of clients. She plays an active role in advising clients on price and market access strategies, with the ultimate goal of optimizing fair access for all stakeholders in rare disease.

 

Her 20+ year career spans various disease areas and medical devices, successfully supporting the strategy development and operationalization for orphan drugs. Her extensive industry experience across several product launches ensures clients benefit from that knowledge and build stronger access strategies as a result. Managing global, regional and local teams has provided her with the know-how to successfully face the real-life challenges in today’s orphan, cell and gene therapy world.

I'm a Walking Dead fan, in fact all things horror... I have a message form George Romero telling me to stay scared!

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Sam Morrison

Executive Director

Sam is an Executive Director at Partners4Access (P4A) with over 15 years of experience in market access consultancy. She has gained considerable insight into health systems across Europe and the USA, as well as other major markets including Japan, China and Brazil as well as and many Central and Eastern European markets. Samantha has conducted many market access due diligence projects, as pricing and reimbursement has become more essential to the licensing process, and as such, she is used to the time pressures and the balance between commercial, clinical development and market access these projects require.


Prior to P4A, Sam worked at Ipsos, GfK and Bridgehead International in the access area building considerable experience in several fields including market access for orphan  diseases, the challenges facing gene therapies, and planning effective development programmes with market access in mind. 


Samantha graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry with Biological and Medicinal Chemistry from Keele University. 

Fighting evil by moonlight, enabling market access by daylight

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Josephina (Pina) Haberl

Senior Director

Pina is a Senior Director at P4A. She has 10 years of years’ Market Access experience. She supports clients with the development of P&R strategies, innovative pricing schemes, payer value strategies and propositions. She closely collaborates with clients to develop service solution concepts tailored to their individual needs.


Pina has worked across several therapeutic areas supporting launch preparations and beyond of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics across Europe and the US for rare and non-rare products. The last 5 years she been focusing on rare disease Market Access challenges only.


Prior to Partners4Access, she has worked at Dolon, Baxter, Executive Insights and Boston Healthcare Associates allowing her to apply her specialist health system knowledge.


Pina holds a Masters in Economics from Freie Universität of Berlin and a diploma in Health Economics from the University of Aberdeen. 

One thing I cannot live without is ice cream. I can have it any time in a day all year round.

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Aurelija Luko

Financial Controller

Aurelija’s work at P4A includes overseeing all accounting activities from managing financial risk to setting the budgets. Also, to ensure the smooth day to day finance operations within the business.​

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Aurelija is a Chartered Accountant, with 10+ years of experience, she holds MSc in Financial Economics from the University of Exeter and BSc in the same field. ​

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Prior to P4A she worked for the small start-ups as well as big listed companies in healthcare, consulting and property industries. She is a problem solver with the ability to adapt well to new situations as well as review and improve the internal controls within the organisation.’

Georgie Rack dances like a drangonfly in the middle of summer

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Georgina Rack

Communication Executive

Georgina has over 8 years’ experience working in the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare industry, with a strong background in organizing events. At P4A, her role includes conference and promotional activities, marketing efforts and admin tasks.

 

She has previously worked for the Conservative Party, under David Cameron and worked through two UK General Elections and assisted with organising two Conservative Party Conferences. After this, Georgie moved to ICON under the Pricing & Market Access Team and gained knowledge in contracts, honoraria payments, conferences & ad boards, as well as admin tasks assisting the Senior Leadership Team.

Owen has always been very interested in history

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Owen Bryant

Creative Director

Owen has over 10+ years’ experience of graphic and creative design; his main responsibility at P4A is design and branding for internal and external projects. He studied media and communication at Greenwich University and began a career in recruitment and marketing for consultancy services.

 

Owen moved into local government social services, setting up employment training enterprises for disadvantaged adults. During this time, he developed design and printing services which kick-started Owen’s passion for the creative process and graphic design. Owen started working for P4A as a design consultant for in 2017, collaborating successfully on a number of long-term projects. He was invited to join the team full-time in 2020 as their new Creative Director.

 

Owen believes that successful design begins with honesty, that it asks the right questions and comes from a spirit of collaboration. It is also about being brave and trusting your intuition.

For nine months of the year, my mood is mostly dictated by the performance of multi-millionaires kicking a football!

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Darren Callanan

Global Digital Lead

Darren has >10 years’ experience in market access and digital health consultancy; his main role at P4A is identifying and developing innovative solutions for the market access and launch readiness challenges our customers face. Darren has a deep understanding of healthcare markets across Europe and amassed extensive experience with multi-stakeholder collaborations driving positive, sustainable, and innovative improvements to healthcare.

 

Prior to P4A, he worked at S3 Connected Health and Dolon, allowing him to develop expertise in market access and commercial strategy along with digital solution design for pharma and medtech.

 

Darren has a BSc in Physiology, MSc in Biotechnology and Business Management from The University of Warwick and Prof Dip in Business Finance from Smurfit Business School. In his spare time, he enjoys playing and coaching basketball and hurling.

Joanna loves to travel and discover places around the world

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Joanna Fernandes

Associate Director

Joanna’s main responsibilities at P4A include developing current and future landscape assessments, market research, and funding analysis, including innovative payment methods. Her key focus is on Cell and Gene therapy but has worked on a number of projects across a range of therapy areas, including immune-oncology, rare and ultra-rare diseases.

 

She has completed a B.Sc. in Biochemistry at Imperial College London, focusing on infectious diseases and biotechnology. Prior to Partners4Access, she worked as an analyst at Finalta, Mckinsey Solutions, allowing her to further develop her primary and secondary research skills.

If you know more about tomatoes than Fisentzos, then you must be one

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Fisentzos Stylianou

Associate Consultant

Fisentzos’s role at Partners4Access includes conducting primary and secondary research to support the development of market access and reimbursement strategies for clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With a passion for innovative treatments, he closely follows the cell and gene therapy field as it expands to treat more patients with rare diseases.

 

Prior to joining Partners4Access, Fisentzos worked as a Research Associate at Imperial College London, where he also earned his Ph.D. in Structural Biology in 2020. During this time, he conducted research as part of a multidisciplinary team to advance his understanding of the structure and function of biofilm-forming proteins, paving the way for the design of novel antimicrobial therapeutics. Fisentzos also holds an M.Sc. in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research and a B.Sc. in Biomedical Science, both from King’s College London.

When life gives me lemons... I make a lemon meringue pie!

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Iro Malekou

Senior Analyst

Iro’s role at Partners4Access involves conducting primary and secondary research, with the aim of supporting the development of market access and reimbursement strategies for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. This will help ensure that Orphan Drugs and ATMPs are more easily accessible to rare disease patients.

 

Iro is passionate about gene therapies and neurological diseases. Her interests stem from her studies in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where she specialised in Genetics. She also holds an MSc in Genomic Medicine from Imperial College London. During her master’s thesis, she studied microglia from a chimeric mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease, to gain insight into their utility as tools for future research in the field. Her experience gave her the opportunity to explore the rare disease landscape and learn how genome-based therapeutics can revolutionise treatment.

Fighting evil by moonlight, enabling market access by daylight

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Beth McCormick

Analyst

Beth’s role at Partners4Access involves conducting primary and secondary research to support the development of market access and reimbursement strategies for clients in both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She has a strong interest in the pricing and reimbursement strategy for orphan drugs and cell and gene therapies.


Beth holds a M.Sc. in Genomic Medicine and a BSc in Biomedical Science, both from ​the University of Birmingham. During these years, she studied the treatment landscape of the rare disease Wolfram Syndrome and potential novel photosensitisers for the photodynamic treatment of oesophageal cancer. Prior to joining P4A, Beth worked in both Evidence Review and Synthesis with a focus on genomics and oncology, and Research Coordination of Inherited Cardiac Condition studies at St George’s University, London

I absolutely love skiing and have been skiing since I could walk. I’m actually a qualified ski instructor!

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Johann Sanséau

Analyst

At P4A, Johann is responsible for performing both primary and secondary research to support the development of market access and reimbursement strategies for clients in both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

 

Prior to joining P4A, Johann worked as an intern for 6 months at a boutique consulting firm specializing in cell and gene therapies. Johann has a keen interest in the pricing and reimbursement strategies for cell and gene therapies, stemming from his master’s degree from King’s College London in the commercialisation of stem cells and regenerative therapies. His master’s thesis focused on developing an innovative iPSC-derived gene-modified natural killer cell therapy for multiple myeloma.”

I am obsessed with tropical / house plants

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Marco Crisci

Analyst

Marco’s role at P4A involves conducting in depth primary and secondary research to assist in resolving market access and reimbursement challenges for clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. He has a particular interest in the gene therapy space.


Prior to joining P4A, Marco obtained a PhD in Microbiology from University College London, where his research focused on bacterial viruses; including developing antimicrobial compounds produced by these viruses. Marco also has experience in the biotechnology industry, where he supported the EU launch of in-feed enzymes and probiotics through managing livestock efficacy trials and conducting data analysis, along with testing genetically engineered probiotics against targeted pathogens. This experience complements his BSc (Hons.) Animal Science from the University of Reading.

I have a deep love for animals, but dogs have a special place in my heart. If there is a dog aroud, I am probably petting it.I can’t resist a wagging tail!

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Chrystalla (Christia) Mouzoura

Analyst

At Partners4Access, Christia is responsible for conducting both primary and secondary market research. These aid the development of tangible market access and reimbursement tactics for clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.

 

Christia holds an MSc in Molecular Biology and Pathology of Viruses from Imperial College London where she studied viral morphology, pathogenicity and infection patterns. During her postgraduate studies, her thesis examined human and Gammaherpesvirus protein localisation patterns using specifically selected affimer proteins. She previously completed a BSc in Microbiology at the University of Surrey. Coming from an academic background, Christia is eager to explore the commercial aspect of drug and ATMP discovery and support the development of reimbursement strategies for clients.

If you had to leave me in one place on Earth, that would definitely be the Greek Island Sifnos

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Angeliki Meletsi

Analyst

Angeliki holds an MSc in Pharmaceutical Formulation and Entrepreneurship from University College London and has previously completed an MPharm in Pharmacy from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Prior to joining P4A, Angeliki has had a couple of years of experience in several divisions of the pharmaceutical sector, such as community pharmacies, pharmaceutical industries and hospitals.


As a pharmacist, she has a holistic grasp of the biopharmaceutical industry and has a keen interest in ATMPs, their reimbursement and pricing strategies. Her master’s thesis included the development and commercialization assessment of a novel implant for patients suffering from spinal cord injury.


Angeliki’s role at Partners4Access involves conducting primary and secondary research to support the development of market access and reimbursement strategies for clients in both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. She has a strong interest in the pricing and reimbursement strategy for orphan drugs and cell and gene therapies.

I suffer from the ACHOO syndrome, which makes you sneeze when suddenly exposed to bright light.

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Marco Sancandi

Senior Analyst

Marco’s role at P4A involves conducting in depth primary and secondary research and working to assist and support the development of tangible market access and reimbursement strategies for clients in both the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.


Marco’s path has taken him through various fields, starting with a B.Sc. in Psychology and an M.Sc. in Neuroscience in Italy, through an additional M.Sc. in Pharmacology at UCL, where he then proceeded onto a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology. He then embarked in a two-year postdoc in Gene Therapy and Vector Production. With his solid background on preclinical studies, he is now eager to navigate the final steps of the pharmaceutical process and help ensure that patients have access to the drugs and treatments needed.​