The Scientific Strategist – Dr. Ammar Raza: Advancing Patient Access Across Emerging Markets
While the landscapes of Dubai and Bangkok may be many thousands of miles apart, they share a single critical purpose in the mind of Dr. Ammar Raza: to improve human health through the integration of science and strategy. The Regional Medical Director for AbbVie, covering the Middle East, Africa, and Thailand, Dr. Ammar, works at the level where medicine meets high-stakes business decisions. He is both an MD and a specialist in the complicated relationship between clinical development of new medicines and access to those medicines by patients. With over 25 years of global experience from the hospitals of India and Libya through to the corporate offices of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Ammar has seen the vast continuum of the healthcare delivery process from all possible perspectives.
Dr. Ammar begins his day focusing on the most complex therapeutic areas of medicine, including toxins, fillers, medical devices, and other medical practices. He possesses a unique combination of proficiency, including a medical degree and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, which gives him an understanding of how a potential new drug works at a molecular level and the commercial risk associated with launching that product. Dr. Ammar has held leadership roles at several top companies, including AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Allergan, and is responsible for successfully bringing innovative treatment options to emerging markets. He has led the development of everything from insulin analogues to biosimilars, ensuring that innovative science actually makes it into the hands of the people who need it most.
Recently, he has been recognized as one of the most innovative leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2026. With an aptitude for balancing the two competing interests of medical governance with strategic growth, he has built entire medical affairs departments from scratch, converting raw research and development to organized divisions that have a measurable impact. He has experience with all four phases of clinical trials, giving him insight into the process by which a compound changes from a laboratory theory into a trusted treatment.
Dr. Ammar has the capacity to think creatively and convert complex scientific data into simple and actionable strategies that positively impact patients and provide practitioners. Before having a number of high-level discussions regarding the next generation of toxins and dermal fillers, his ongoing focus is on the realities of the market for which he serves. He is aware of the similarities found in healthcare systems throughout Eastern Europe as they relate to Middle East & Africa, and he knows how critical it is to have a firm understanding of both regional and overall medical systems, as well as their respective solutions.
Dr. Ammar’s strong communication skills have allowed him to form a collaborative link between academic research and business leaders. He possesses a very high level of respect and credibility to communicate with any audience! Medical innovation is at an all-time high pace; thus, by working collaboratively with both the research and industry sides of medicine, Dr. Ammar focuses on analyzing all of the risks posed before advancing towards innovative solutions that present the possibility for future forward innovations.
Cultural Diversity as a Leadership Catalyst
With a career spanning over two decades across global pharma leaders and diverse geographies, for Dr. Ammar, managing diverse teams with different cultural backgrounds and ways of working was a learning experience. Also, the different perspectives that are brought to the table have helped shape his leadership. He has managed a diverse set of stakeholders (both internal and external) across different geographies, especially in a matrix organization. As an example, clinical practice varies, patient expectations are different in different geographies, and to add to that, the regulatory environment is also very varied.
Navigating Influence and Regulatory Complexity
Dr. Ammar has mastered influencing without authority, especially with peers and those higher up in the hierarchy, but from a different function. He has also spent years navigating the different compliance frameworks and regulatory environments across geographies. As Regional Medical Director overseeing MEA & Thailand, today, first and foremost, he puts effort into recognizing the diversity, understanding the healthcare ecosystem, accepting the difference, and then working on tailoring a strategy to make it work.
Strategic Adaptation and Active Listening
This requires a number of skills for him to apply, such as active listening, connecting the dots, drawing similarities, and appreciating the differences. He focuses on finding ways to share the best practices and seeing how the practice can be implemented (after it is tailored) in another geography, learning from where it originated, finding ways to influence the system, and building on previous experiences. He has worked extensively across emerging markets. There, he has seen that the opportunities are many, with access to medicines being one key example.
Advancing Science Through Real-World Data
Dr. Ammar sees the opportunity to generate more data and get involved in global clinical trials, thereby contributing to advancing science. Real-world evidence generation is another area of opportunity he prioritizes. He focuses on tailoring strategy to the market his team operates in, while not drifting from the core strategic imperative. This involves developing and tailoring programs and projects that cater to the needs of the market.
Harmonization in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape
The regulatory environment is evolving, and he acknowledges that frequent changes may pose challenges to pharma companies. However, he believes there is always an opportunity to work with regulators. For Dr. Ammar, the harmonization of regulations is another critical area to be worked upon to ensure progress in the biopharmaceutical sector.
The Strategic Evolution of Medical Affairs
As a function, medical affairs has been evolving rapidly in recent years, moving from playing a more reactive role to being a more proactive player. Dr. Ammar notes this involves partnering with the commercial organization and, more importantly, external stakeholders. This transformation reflects a shift from being medical experts to having an enterprise-wide impact, where medical affairs plays a pivotal role in the business by partnering with different internal and external stakeholders. This change requires the function to rapidly adapt to technology and find innovative ways to work with a variety of stakeholders beyond just physicians. Digitalization, along with leveraging AI&ML, has been hallmarks of this transformation.
Translating Innovation into Real-World Patient Benefit
With deep involvement in clinical research spanning Phase I to Phase IV and Real-World Evidence (RWE), Dr. Ammar believes one must ensure that innovation translates into real-world patient benefit. Medical science has evolved to be more evidence-based, and evidence generation therefore plays a critical role in driving those outcomes. He asserts that the right evidence, using the right methodology and communicated in the right way, helps physicians make informed decisions while managing disease conditions. A critical element of any evidence generation strategy for him is patient centricity, as research conducted with input from those affected is more likely to be relevant and achievable.
Key Success Factors for Novel Therapies in Emerging Markets
As Dr. Ammar has led multiple product launches across therapeutic areas, he feels there are some key success factors for introducing novel therapies in emerging markets. First and foremost is identifying an unmet need or gap in therapy and addressing that gap through a solution. He believes the right strategy to educate physicians and engage the right key opinion leaders and other stakeholders is key to success. This includes positioning the product for the right patient profiles supported by robust evidence. Additionally, he finds it vital to identify data gaps and address them through real-world generation initiatives.
Prioritization and Strategy in a Broad Clinical Landscape
Given his expertise in cardiometabolic and multiple therapy areas, Dr. Ammar has had to prioritize focus in such a broad clinical landscape. In this environment, he views strategy as being all about making the right choices: choosing the right product, positioning it based on robust clinical evidence and market insights, and disseminating clinical data to the right audience in a tailored way. A focused approach based on clear prioritization is critical for his success.
Balancing Scientific Rigor with Ethical Standards
In the pharma industry, Dr. Ammar sees a constant endeavor for functions like medical affairs to balance scientific rigor with commercial imperatives by creating a high-trust, evidence-based environment. Maintaining high ethical standards is critical, and he works with functions like ethics and compliance to maintain this. Medical affairs is considered to bring the voice of the patient to strategy development, whether in clinical development or marketing. For him, patient centricity remains an evolving and essential paradigm in the pharmaceutical world.
The Pillar of Cross-Functional Collaboration
Leadership in biopharma requires cross-functional collaboration, which is critical to the success of any team. Fostering collaboration requires bringing the teams together, co-owning the development and implementation of the strategy. While approaches between functions vary based on their imperative, Dr. Ammar believes the objectives and goals are, in a way, common. Hence, fostering this culture of co-owning the common objectives is important. One of the key pillars of the medical affairs function is communication and dissemination of scientific data. This involves communication in various forums, including during 1:1 scientific exchange, but also through publications. Especially in the MEA region, he sees a need to generate more real-world data and to publish the same.
Building Trust through Credible Data and Governance
Credible data helps build trust and clinical adoption. For Dr. Ammar, pharmacovigilance and medical governance are critical pillars. Further, there are a few critical steps: keeping an eye on the evolving regulatory guidelines and framework, and the ability to quickly adapt to the new guidelines from a systems and process standpoint helps ensure compliance. Training teams on the new processes and enhancing their understanding of the guidelines and the requirements is critical. Medical governance also requires a good understanding of local marketing codes in different countries. Adherence to local laws and regulations is an ongoing endeavor for any successful business.
Establishing a High-Impact Medical Organization
Being instrumental in building medical affairs functions means building the foundational elements required to establish a high-impact medical organization. This includes a strong foundation of science and its understanding. Dr. Ammar emphasizes the ability to communicate and disseminate data using innovative formats and approaches, leveraging technology, including digital technology. He also prioritizes the ability to gather insights and tailor medical strategy based on market insights.
Focusing on Patient Outcomes and Stakeholder Evolution
Throughout this process, keeping focus on patient outcomes is important to him. Dr. Ammar believes in evolving with the times by working with a different set of stakeholders—from health care professionals to payers and other decision makers.
The Technological Transformation of Healthcare
While the healthcare industry in general has been slow in adoption of technology, owing to a number of reasons including lack of clear regulatory frameworks, the last decade has seen a significant transformation in how digital technologies are leveraged. Dr. Ammar observes that the advent of AI has significantly transformed the way we conduct clinical trials today and also how he and his peers analyze data, gather insights, and work on those insights.
Foundations for Strategic Leadership
As a leader with both clinical and business acumen, his advice to aspiring professionals aiming to transition into strategic leadership roles in healthcare is straightforward: First, follow high ethical standards, despite the challenges that the businesses face. Second, the development of strategic and business acumen is easier said than done. It’s important to develop strategic thinking capability and to have a good understanding of the business. Understanding numbers, their implications, and analytics is not easy for a medical or pharma professional, but Dr. Ammar believes these skills can be developed.
Innovation as a Necessity in a Rapid Landscape
He feels that healthcare is evolving rapidly, especially in the UAE, given the vision of the government. Innovation is no longer a choice but a necessity. The pace at which this is happening is rapid, and keeping up with the pace is important to be able to make a meaningful difference.
Diverse Approaches to Universal Patient Outcomes
Each country may have a different approach, depending on a number of factors, including culture and what stage of evolution it is, but for Dr. Ammar, the focus on innovation and improved patient outcomes is key.