Stefan Zillikens is a strategic consultant with more than 25 years of international commercial pharmaceutical experience. He has managed all stages of the product lifecycle—from early launch planning and mature brand innovation to loss of exclusivity (LOE) optimization—bringing a unique combination of scientific expertise and commercial acumen. Stefan holds a Ph.D. in cardiac physiology and a Master in Pharmaceutical Medicine from Witten/Herdecke University (Germany), and a M.Sc. in Pharmacy from Semmelweis University in Budapest. He is skilled at defining product positioning and target patient profiles that form the foundation of successful commercialization strategies. His career spans senior roles in small biotech as well as regional and global leadership positions within mid-size and top 10 pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Nycomed/Takeda, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and Merck MSD. Throughout, he has demonstrated that commercial success requires both internal alignment and external stakeholder engagement. Stefan has led cross-functional teams across clinical development, regulatory affairs, and market access to deliver fact-based, customer-centered business cases for products ranging from blockbuster therapies to orphan and specialty medicines. In addition to his corporate career, Stefan founded Cogent HealthCare GmbH, a boutique consultancy supporting pharma and biotech clients, and co-founded First-Mile-Bio, which helps early-stage biopharma start-ups navigate the path to commercialization.