Michele Galen | Influence 100

michele-galen

Michele Galen

Senior vice president and head of communications and public affairs
Shire Pharmaceuticals

After spending more than a decade at Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis—where she helped the company position itself as both a market leader and a responsible global citizen—Michele Galen was named head of communications at US biotech company Shire, where she is responsible for communications, public affairs, patient advocacy, digital and social media, corporate branding, media relations and corporate responsibility, serving as a member of the extended executive team and reporting to the CEO. Before her most recent role as chief communications officer at Novartis, she was global head, oncology affairs, led global external affairs and communications for molecular diagnostics, and was vice president, corporate communications, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Before joining the company, Galen was a managing director at Burson-Marsteller—leading corporate and change communications campaigns—and editor for Business Week magazine.