Walter Atzori

• Leading global patient advocacy strategy across therapeutic areas as a member of the Patient Experience Leadership Team while continuing to serve as Head of EUCAN & International Patient Advocacy.
• Leading and executing high-profile patient engagement initiatives from early development through post-marketing, including Community Advisory Boards and various types of innovative community-partnered initiatives.

Key Achievements:

• Built Alexion’s international patient advocacy capabilities entirely from the ground up, transforming what had been a fragmented set of activities into a strategic business function with clear standards, governance, and measurable impact.
• Expanded high‑value alliances with patient organisations and external stakeholders, strengthening collaboration across the rare‑disease ecosystem.
• Elevated company reputation and trust by establishing transparent, consistent community‑centred engagement practices.
• Integrated meaningful patient insights at critical strategic milestones, enabling more informed, patient‑aligned business and portfolio decisions.
• Built frameworks that enhanced organisational credibility and increased willingness from patient communities to partner on priority initiatives.

• Built and led in‑country patient advocacy team across all key EUCAN and International markets, managing a team of 20 Director/AD level professionals.
• Shaped and executed the regional patient advocacy and engagement strategy, ensuring alignment between global priorities and local needs.
• Successfully delivered impactful partnerships and engagement initiatives with rare disease communities across all in-line therapeutic areas, while also driving early engagement strategies for emerging portfolio indications.

• Shaped and cultivated sustainable, trust‑based relationships with rare disease and disease-specific patient associations across EMEA and co‑created opportunities for collaboration across the full R&D continuum
• Drove proactive engagement with the rare disease community on key policy topics at European and country level
• Championed meaningful patient involvement by convening multi‑stakeholder initiatives that elevate patient engagement standards and accelerate adoption across R&D
• Embedded patient perspectives into business and scientific decisions by equipping internal teams to recognise, understand, and integrate the needs and priorities of patient communities.

• Led EPF’s programmes and capacity‑building portfolio, managed a team of 10 and led policy work on HTA, eHealth, and meaningful patient involvement in therapeutic innovation.
• Expanded and delivered major programmes, including EPF’s Capacity Building and the EUPATI Expert Patient Course
• Built strategic, multi‑stakeholder partnerships across industry, NGOs, and professional groups, strengthening EPF’s role as a trusted patient voice.
• Oversaw fundraising, budgeting, and operational planning, contributed to securing long‑term European Commission funding, and ensured strong financial and organisational performance.

• Drove EPF involvement several EU projects and strategic initiatives.