Astellas congratulates Judy Kannenberg, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs Therapeutic Area Head of Medical Specialties, for being named a 2023 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Luminary recipient. Judy’s passion to helping improve patients’ lives is evident in her 35-year career in the pharma industry, especially advocating for women in healthcare. She helped launch our Stellar Women Employee Impact Group in 2013 and serves as a role model in mentoring colleagues throughout the global Astellas network to advance their careers.

“I am truly inspired and motivated by the patients we serve each and every day at Astellas,” said Judy. “I love to work by the mantra “the patients are waiting” as we research, develop, and market new life changing drugs across the globe.”

Judy began her career at Baxter working in Pharm Tech, QA, Project Management and Regulatory Affairs for 18 years prior to joining Astellas in 2006. Judy came to Astellas to do something fundamentally new and challenging: develop and launch a new first-in-class product to treat overactive bladder as the Global Regulatory Lead to drive the success of the product from Investigational New Drug (IND) to receiving approval in over 80 countries. Judy currently is acting as VP and RA Head for BioPharma Development at Astellas, responsible for leading a global team of Regulatory professionals in the development, approval and lifecycle management of a diverse portfolio of new pharmaceutical and biologic products for a variety of therapeutic indications.

“As a leader, it is an essential part of our role to share what we have learned along the way to help others advance within their careers – I look at mentoring as giving back,” stated Judy. “Mentoring is also a two-way street, where not only do I have the opportunity to support and problem solve with mentees, but also learn something new every time.”

Currently, Judy serves as a mentor to colleagues at all levels across various departments regionally and globally within Astellas. She prides herself by always taking the time to mentor others and providing an “open door policy” – something she learned from one of her mentors early on in her career.

Additionally, Judy was a foundational member of the Astellas Stellar Women Employee Impact Group (SWEIG) when it launched 10 years ago, serving as one of the first workstream co-leads, and continues to be an active member. Through her work with SWEIG, a personal goal of Judy’s as she grew in her career was to bring others along with her and empower women to find their path at Astellas. Judy is happy to have had a role in helping to advance the careers of several women not only in the US, but in the European Union and Japan as well. Learn more about Astellas’ Stellar Women EIG here.

This Spring, HBA will host their annual event celebrating excellence in leadership among healthcare and life science industry leaders where HBA Luminary winners will be honored. HBA Luminaries represent industry veterans and strong role models in their company who actively mentor and sponsor others helping to advance the careers of businesswomen.