Panayota Bird

Panayota Bird is a senior leader with over 25 years of experience acquired in various strategic commercial roles focused on the launch and scale-up of pharmaceutical innovations and vaccines into low-resourced settings. Panayota is experienced in leading diverse cross-functional matrix teams which have successfully delivered sustainable public health strategies in collaboration with key global health stakeholders.

As Health Investment Director at MedAccess, Panayota works with the leadership team to shape MedAccess’ strategy, collaborating with external experts to identify, evaluate and develop transformative agreements. Panayota leads a high-performing team of Health Investment professionals to execute and deliver impactful financing models which will positively alter the trajectory of infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries.

Panayota joined MedAccess from GSK, where she previously served as GAVI Vaccines Business Director sequentially for Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Emerging Markets. While at GSK, Panayota had an opportunity to spend 18 months on an external secondment with the UK’s Department of International Development as Senior Health Advisor, where she supported and reviewed a number of cross-organisational, multi-country development programmes and was part of the UK mission to The WHO Executive Board and World Health Assembly, 2016.

Before joining MedAccess, Panayota was Global Health Products Access Strategy Director at GSK where she led a malaria programme from regulatory filing through to initial launch into endemic countries, working in close partnership with the Product Development Partnership, Medicines for Malaria Ventures, and other global and local stakeholders.

Panayota holds a postgraduate qualification in Pharmacology and a Science degree in Physiology and Genetics from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Growing up in Africa, Panayota experienced first-hand the challenges of acquiring medical care and medicines in the limited-resource public sector. This makes her passionate about advocating for those underserved to access medicines sustainably.

Email Panayota: [email protected]