Management Board

Carlos Gallardo joined the pharmaceutical industry over 20 years ago when he joined Pfizer based in New York. In 2004, he joined Almirall where he has remained until the present day. First as an executive in different countries and positions ranging from Strategy, Sales, Licensing, M&A and to Country Management. In 2013, he was appointed Board Director. He became Vice Chairman in 2020 and Chairman as of May 2022. In November 2022, he was appointed interim CEO and in light of the very positive evolution and performance, in February 2023 he was appointed CEO. Additionally, Carlos has established a successful career in innovative healthcare technology. He is the founder and CEO of CG Health Ventures, which invests in early-stage digital health and medtech companies globally, providing a unique blend of operational support and capital. Carlos serves on a number of boards of promising early-stage companies. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, Carlos worked as an engineer in the automotive industry in logistics and supply chain. He holds a MS in industrial engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Eloi Crespo holds a Degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Barcelona, and an Interuniversity Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona and Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He joined Almirall in 1997 in Purchasing, where he held various positions as Purchaser, Manager, and Director. In 2010 he assumed responsibility in a new area to become Industrial Director and after eight years in this position, he was appointed Senior VP Industrial Operations.

Esteve Conesa holds a Degree in Psychology from the University of Barcelona. He joined Almirall in 2002 where he took on the role of Project Leader HR Organisational Development. Since then he has held several positions in the company including HR Business Partner Industrial Operations, Head of Corporate Recruitment, and Development, People & Organisational Development Director, and Chief HR Officer US Operations. In 2018 he became Senior Vice-president, Human Resources.

Karl Ziegelbauer has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Tübingen (Germany). Before joining Almirall, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Open Innovation & Digital Technologies at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Karl has three decades of experience in drug discovery in international markets such as Germany, Japan, and the United States. He has developed most of his career at the German multinational pharmaceutical company and has assumed positions of increasing responsibility, holding Senior Vice President roles in various medical research fields. Karl has also co-authored more than 50 scientific publications covering basic research as well as drug discovery topics.

Mike McClellan holds Bachelor's degrees in both Accounting and Economics from the University of Missouri. He is an experienced financial executive and has leveraged his skills to drive strong business and financial performance in roles of increasing scope, responsibility, and geographic reach mainly within the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Almirall in 2019, he was the CFO of Teva Pharmaceuticals. He has also spent many years at Sanofi after starting his career in public accounting.

Volker Koscielny received his Medical Doctor Degree from the Freie Universität Berlin. He holds a Business and Managerial Economics MBA from the University of Durham. With a solid clinical, academic, and scientific background, as well as sound experience managing large teams, he has a results-oriented mentality. Before joining Almirall he held various different positions in companies such as Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Servier, or Boehringer Ingelheim. As a member of the Management Board, he leads the Medical Affairs and Medical Innovation strategy, providing guidance and a strong medical perspective as a partner to the R&D and commercial teams.

Paolo Cionini holds a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) and has completed executive education programmes in Marketing and Finance. Paolo has three decades of professional experience in the pharma industry and joined Almirall from LEO Pharma, where he founded the Italian affiliate as General Manager in 2011. Five years later he moved on to the role of Vice President Cluster South (Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece) and he served as Vice President in the EUCAN Area, comprising 17 countries across three continents.

Mercedes Diz joined Almirall in 2002 and, since 2023, holds the position of Chief Marketing Officer, leading the global commercial strategy and defining the marketing strategy for global strategic products, driving the analysis, planning and execution of brand plans. Previously, Diz was Vice President of Corporate Strategy, leading key strategic processes and projects for the company and defining the prioritites to achieve the company’s long-term ambition in medical dermatology. Among her previous roles at Almirall, Diz has also been responsible for managing commercial activities in several affiliates (Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Nordics, Poland, Switzerland, and the UK), as well as leading global commercial support functions, including Global Alliance Management & Partners and Licensing & Corporate Development. From 2018 to 2020, Diz successfully led the Global marketing and market access team in charge of the company’s Strategic Global Brands. Mercedes Diz holds a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree from Madrid Autonomous University. Before Almirall, she performed local sales and marketing roles at Pfizer, Allergan, DuPont Pharma and J&J.

Isabel Gomes has a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from FDSBC, Brazil, an MBA in Business Law, FGV/UCLA Irvine, a Program in Business Management for Lawyers from Yale University, and a master’s in U.S. Law from Washington University. Isabel accumulates 25 years of experience in the legal field: She directed the Legal Affairs for big corporations such as Whirlpool from 1998 to 2004 and 3M from 2004 to 2011, before getting promoted that same year to General Counsel for Latin America. In 3M, she has been assuming positions of increasing responsibility from her first promotion in 2011 until her latest in 2021 to Vice President & General Counsel, Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain; a position she held before joining Almirall’s Management Board in 2022. Isabel has strong ties with the United States as she developed most of her professional career there, but also with her home country, as she is the Director of the Brazil-Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Vice-Honorary Consul of Brazil in Minnesota.

Paul Rittman received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri and holds an MBA from St. Ambrose University in Iowa. He has more than 12 years of general management experience in leading business units in the US and Canada. Before joining Almirall, Paul held various positions in sales, marketing and general management in many therapeutic areas, including oncology, hematology, neurology, cardiovascular, dermatology, gastroenterology, allergy, and rheumatology, both in global and local roles in companies of different sizes. He joined the company from Helsinn Therapeutics US, where he served as President and CEO, and was a member of the Board of Directors. As a member of Almirall’s Management Board, Paul leads the United States affiliate, bringing his extensive experience and strategic vision to the role.