Emilio Fernandez
Owner & CEO, Scalar Group
I have spent 20+ years in commercial leadership, including Novartis from 2012 to Feb 2026 in Spain, Latin America and the U.S. As Vice President & General Manager I led Kesimpta, a $2.2B neuroscience brand growing 50% while gaining market share, with a U.S. team of about 300 people. Most recently, as Vice President, Head of Enterprise Growth & Innovation for Novartis U.S. (Nov 2024 to Feb 2026), I led growth and innovation for the U.S. business, including AI initiatives and M&A: the search for the deals behind a $3B+ U.S. growth target. I took two deals to the final stage and executed one under a $3B+ U.S. inorganic growth mandate.
Along the way I took Kisqali (oncology) to market leadership and past $1B in sales (now $3B+), took Promacta (hematology) from $400M past $1B and extended its patent life by 2 years, and signed my first risk-based payer contracts as an ophthalmology sales representative in Spain.
Before my U.S. roles, I led brands in Europe and P&Ls and businesses in Latin America: neuroscience brands in Spain, then, as Commercial Head, Latin America, for Sandoz, a $400M P&L across several therapeutic areas.
Today I advise biotech and healthcare companies and investors through Scalar Group. I am an advisor to Crane Venture Partners, where I have evaluated 12 healthcare and biotech opportunities, and I co-founded an independent-sponsor PE platform. Before healthcare I worked in technology and energy.
Most recent role · Nov 2024–Feb 2026
Vice President, Head of Enterprise Growth & Innovation, Novartis U.S.
I led growth and innovation for Novartis U.S.: growth strategy, AI initiatives and M&A to grow the U.S. business. The mandate was to find inorganic opportunities supporting more than $3B of additional U.S. revenue by 2028. I took two deals to the final stage and executed one under a $3B+ U.S. inorganic growth mandate. It is the work I now bring to clients: where the next growth comes from, which bets to make, and how to get the deal done.
- Education: MBA, Yale School of Management · MBA, IESE Business School · M.S. Electronics Engineering (INPG) · M.S. Telecommunications Engineering (UPC)
- Languages: English, Spanish, Catalan, French and Italian (fluent); Portuguese (intermediate)
- Markets: United States, Latin America, Spain, France, United Kingdom
