Erica Whittaker

Erica is Vice President & Head of UCB Ventures. She began her career at UCB in 2010 as VP Strategy & Partnering, NewMedicines (drug discovery through clinical proof of concept), where she developed and led the UCB-Harvard Research Alliance. In 2012, she became a member of an internal strategy team which shaped UCB's Patient Value Strategy that is being implemented today. As Head of Market Access EMEA 2013-2017, Erica was instrumental in developing regional patient access and pricing strategies, working with affiliates to drive local execution. During her tenure, Erica was the Chair of the Healthcare Systems Working Group of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Association (EFPIA). Prior to joining UCB, Erica spent 10 years as a top-ranked biotechnology equity analyst for Merrill Lynch in London, where she conducted financial, valuation and commercial analyses for publicly listed European biotechnology and mid-cap pharmaceutical companies. Erica attended Brown University (Rhode Island, USA) where she received her BA degrees in Biology and in Comparative Literature. She travelled to the UK on a Marshall Scholarship and obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Edinburgh, followed by an MBA from Heriot-Watt University Business School in Edinburgh.