Annabel de Maria is Alira Health’s Chief Patient Officer. An industry pioneer in patient engagement, Annabel started her career in 1998 as part of the communications team at Pharmacia & Upjohn that launched Celebrex, Detrusitol, and Xalatan in Spain.

Prior to joining Alira Health in 2020, Annabel was Head of Media Relations Europe at Nestlé Purina and before that was Head of Corporate Communications at Almirall. Her previous experience includes Patient Brand Manager for Viagra at Pfizer and for Levitra at Bayer, external communications lead for Novartis Spain, and patient strategy consultant for Lucentis, Pradaxa (Global Brand Team), and Champix (European Brand Team).

Annabel teaches patient engagement at the University of Bocconi, and she is the patient representative for the EULAR working group on autoinflammatory diseases. She has published two posters at ISPOR on the involvement of patients in the HTA process and one at EAACI on unmet patient needs in type 2 inflammatory diseases.