About

Established in Turkey since 1958, Roche is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical and diagnostics company focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. Legal and compliance director Gonca Uyguç leads the team of nine in the Turkish division of Roche; a combination of lawyers, trainees, internal auditors and a security, environment and health specialist. Since the establishment of the team in the last two years, both compliance and audit functions have been added to the department, reflecting the trust the company has in their expertise whilst the business grows. One key activity the legal team orchestrates is the distribution and set up of its considerable number of warehouses. Another key area the team is internally recognised for is working closely with its market access division to help it register and price new products in line with government regulations. In fact the legal departments is currently in the middle of a midterm plan which has seen it collaborate with a number of other internal departments to meet business ambitions and expectations. In addition to its business partner role with internal stakeholders, the heavy impact of compliance and strict internal rules are being cushioned by the team through successful lobbying and the commoditisation of standard processes via automated systems developed with the help of IT and other departments.