Melissa is VP / Commercial Lead for Rare Disease at Novo Nordisk, and the only commercial leader there with responsibility for both sales and marketing functions – leading a team of nearly 100 employees. The company’s Rare Disease Employee of the Year, she transformed the former Biopharm business into an agile, customer-centric portfolio in rare disease. She set an ambitious target for the organization and exceeded it with nearly $1B in revenue in 12 months.
Previously as VP of Hemophilia Marketing, Melissa was instrumental in shifting the business from traditional provider engagement to channel marketing to hospitals, acute care providers, patients, and field reimbursement leaders. She reinvigorated Novo Nordisk’s legacy brand – NovoSeven RT – by developing and executing a strategy to enter opportunistic market segments.
As Senior Director / Director of Hemophilia Marketing, Melissa steered the launch strategy for 2 drugs that delivered 134% and 200% of sales targets. In a prior role as Associate Director for New Product Commercialization, she shaped and executed the brand strategy for a fast-acting version of NovoSeven, achieving accelerated sales conversion. Joining Novo Nordisk as Senior Brand Manager, Melissa created a 5-year strategic plan and HCP marketing and branding program for 5 new NovoSeven RT indications, resulting in more than $59M in sales for acquired hemophilia.
Melissa built an award-winning career at Johnson & Johnson. She advanced through 5 sales, training, and management roles before becoming Associate Product Director – Brand Innovation for the K-Y brand, where she commercialized 3 new products and grew existing lines.
Melissa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh.
In 2020, 46.9% of all novel drugs approved by the FDA were for rare diseases, as compared to 23.5% in 2012. Investment is expected to continue trending upward, with estimates suggesting that global spending on rare disease therapies will reach $260 billion by the end of 2025.