About

The legal team of Novartis Group in Portugal supports both Novartis’ day-to-day operations in the market and also in other more strategic activities involving major stakeholders. What distinguishes Novartis legal team is its full integration into the business. The team is seen by different business units as an integral part of the commercial units and not as merely a support function, and it works closely with the business in a multidisciplinary and integrated way. Lawyers are involved at the early stages of projects and initiatives, anticipating problems and finding the solutions that fit the main objective, providing complex and specialised legal advice and guidance with strong operational and business acumen focused on a smart risk taking and an intelligent decision making, being agile and inspired to experiment and innovate. The legal team identifies legal risks relating to business activities and potential solutions and so raises business awareness of potential issues and ensures early legal involvement to protect company’s reputation. Sónia Mestre Valadas, the legal and compliance strategic projects manager and Pedro Vaz de Almada, the legal and business affairs manager, are recognised by the company for their ‘business orientation, sense of urgency and accountability’. Novartis Group has two other divisions operating in Portugal: Sandoz (Generics and Biosimilars) and Alcon (Visioncare). João Matias da Silva at Sandoz and Rúben Monteiro for Alcon, both legal and compliance managers, ensure the legal support to these units, in full alignment with the companies’ business strategies and with the group vision and mission. The overal team is led by Leonor Pimenta Pissarra, country chief legal officer, who is part of the Novartis Portugal leadership team where she actively contributes in the definition of the business strategy and provides support to the company in the most relevant and impactful matters.