NORTHBROOK, Ill. and BOGOTA, Colombia, June 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas today announced the establishment of Astellas Farma Colombia (AFC), a new affiliate with operations headquartered in Bogota. Colombia joins Astellas Farma Brasil as the company's second affiliate in Latin America.

Sandra Cifuentes has been appointed to general manager, AFC. She will be based in Bogota and report to Percival Barretto-Ko, senior vice president, International Operations.  Cifuentes will have responsibility for managing and growing Astellas' operations in the third largest country in Latin America and fourth largest pharmaceutical market in the region.

"Today marks an important milestone for Astellas' continued growth in the Americas and we look forward to working with stakeholders across Colombia to serve the unmet needs of patients," said Barretto-Ko. "I'm confident that with Sandra's deep knowledge of Colombia, extensive leadership experience and notable commercial and market access achievements, Astellas will continue making a difference in the lives of patients."

Cifuentes brings more than 20 years of pharmaceutical experience in Latin America to Astellas. Most recently, she led Baxalta's (now Shire) business in Colombia, where she was responsible for driving strategy for the company's local affiliate following its spin-off from Baxter International. Prior to Baxalta, she served as general manager for Shire's Colombia and Andean region business, where she helped establish the company's Colombia affiliate. Since 2005, Cifuentes has also held numerous regional commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis and Merck KGA in oncology, transplant, immunology, CNS and cardiovascular businesses. 

Cifuentes holds degrees in nutrition and marketing from the Universidad Javeriana and Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, along with various executive certifications from the United States and Switzerland.

About Astellas
Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

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SOURCE Astellas