About

Alejandra Castro leads a team of people that focus on trademarks, patents, copyright, computer law, biotechnology, medical records and intellectual property litigation. With over 18 years of pharmaceutical law experience, Castro has developed comprehensive international expertise in a plethora of industry specific issues. This has, she says, allowed her to ‘create a professional practice that would meet the demands of pharmaceutical sector pioneers in Central America, demonstrating the need for specialised legal training to understand this industry’. Since assuming her role at Bayer, Castro has focused on developing a specialised team that can implement business strategies and take products to market as swiftly as possible, helping her to deliver a better return on investment and a better positioning of Bayer’s brands. Castro has also been tasked with incorporating the use of technological tools for administering trade agreements, litigation, administrative, corporate administration and other matters of day-to-day roles, allowing for a greater focus on substantive issues in areas involving pharmaceuticals, consumer, animal health and crop science business units. In order to facilitate this process, she has encouraged business partners to appoint a dedicated legal manager for each unit, enabling them to focus on their specialist functional area. In 2011 Castro received recognition with a “40 under 40” accolade from El Financiero for her overall career achievements. In 2014 Central American magazine Estrategia & Negocios recognised her as one of the most talented young lawyers in the region. In addition to her accomplishments at Bayer, Castro has made significant contributions to the legal profession. The World Intellectual Property Organization recognised her for the drafting of the national strategy for intellectual property of Costa Rica, a draft which was subsequently presented to Trinidad and Tobago. In 2014 she became a member of the Board of the Chamber of Audiovisual Industry (CAIAC). This is an especially poignant part of her career as she was the first lawyer to sit on the board, and the first woman vice president of that union. Additionally in 2015 she was appointed as attorney general of the Union of Chamber (UCCAEP), the union through which groups organise all business chambers. In spite of all these accolades, Castro herself considers her greatest achievement to be her appointment at Bayer, commenting that ‘being sought by a leading company in the industry by virtue of my knowledge and advice, are evidence of the level of trust and respect [they have], and I think that [is] a huge recognition’.