Healthcare and pharma · GCC
Marketing leadership for healthcare and pharma in the Gulf
I lead marketing for healthcare and pharma companies in the Gulf. I am hired to put a commercial plan in place, and to make the line from that plan to revenue clear.
- Marketing and Digital Transformation Director at BioNixus GroupHealthcare and pharma market research
- Alborg DiagnosticsMarketing Director for the GCC
- Lemon PharmaciesHead of Marketing, Riyadh
- Pfizer · J&J · AbbVieKuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Track record
The Gulf roles, with the dates.
These are the healthcare and pharma marketing roles I have held in the region.
- ALB
Alborg Diagnostics
Marketing Director for the GCC. December 2024 to June 2025.
- LEM
Lemon Pharmacies
Head of Marketing, Riyadh. December 2023 to December 2024.
- J&J
Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), UAE
EMEA Emerging Markets Product Manager. December 2017 to July 2019.
- EAR
Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and AbbVie
Earlier roles at Johnson & Johnson Kuwait, Pfizer Kuwait and AbbVie Saudi Arabia, from 2011 to 2018.
- BNX
BioNixus Group
I am Marketing and Digital Transformation Director at BioNixus Group.
Market entry
What Western companies get wrong.
This is my view, from watching healthcare and pharma companies enter Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.
- 01
They treat the GCC as one market
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait do not buy the same way. One regional deck is not a plan.
- 02
They translate a home-market campaign
A US or European campaign, translated, still assumes the wrong buyer, the wrong proof and the wrong channel.
- 03
They start with awareness
Awareness before you know who signs, who influences, and how long a hospital or pharmacy decision takes, spends the budget early.
- 04
They call an agency a strategy
A local agency can execute. It does not own the commercial plan, the budget or the result.
- 05
They leave Arabic and compliance until the end
Arabic, medical review and local compliance belong in the first plan. Added late, they move the launch date.
Recognition
Awards, a ranking, and the public work.
- 2023WPI Global 200 Power Leaders in Marketing & Communications, White Page International. London Journal
- 2024Marketing Personality of the Year, Arabian Mirror. The Arabian Mirror
- #11Favikon, Saudi Arabia. LinkedIn post
- TVHost, From Data to Dollars, STARZ ON
- CourseCourse: From Data to Dollars, almentor
- StageVIP speaker, Seamless Saudi Arabia.
- LectureGuest lecturer, ESLSCA.
How I work
Fractional CMO, or a market entry.
Companies usually ask for one of these two.
- CMO
Fractional CMO
I lead the marketing function for a set number of days a month: the strategy, the team and agencies, the budget, and the report to the CEO. Fractional CMO.
- GTM
Market entry
I build the plan for a healthcare or pharma launch in Saudi Arabia, the UAE or the wider GCC, then stay for the first phase. Middle East pharma market entry.
FAQ
Questions I am asked.
What does a marketing director in the GCC do in pharma?
In pharma and healthcare, the marketing director owns the commercial plan for that market. Which products to push. Which hospitals and pharmacy chains matter. What the healthcare professional needs to see before the next step. And whether the spend is producing listings, prescriptions or contracts. In the GCC that plan is in Arabic and English, it goes through medical and compliance review, and it is not the same plan in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.
How should a Western firm approach Saudi healthcare marketing?
Start with the buyer, not the campaign. Name who decides in the hospital, the pharmacy chain and the wider approval path, and what proof those people already trust. Rebuild the offer for Saudi Arabia. Do not translate a home-market deck and call it local. Put Arabic and compliance in the first plan. Then choose the people who will execute that plan.
What does a Fractional CMO cover?
I take the marketing leadership a full-time chief marketing officer would own, for an agreed number of days a month. That is the strategy, the priorities for your team and agencies, the budget, and a clear line from activity to pipeline or sales. How I structure that work is on the Fractional CMO page.
How do we start?
Take the free growth assessment. It is 12 questions on where marketing and sales are leaking. Then book a strategy call. If the right next step is a Gulf launch or ongoing leadership, I will say so on that call.