Being graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Elif Çelik started her career as a Pharma Product Manager in 1992. Shortly after, she joined Eczacıbaşı Group's Healthcare Division and carried various marketing, sales, business management roles in different companies of the Group. In 2006, she was in the strategic leadership team that conducted the critical merger of Eczacıbaşı Generics Division with Zentiva. She was appointed as the Country Manager for the newly created Eczacıbaşı-Zentiva JV, being responsible both for commercial and extensive industrial operations of the company. In 2009, with a worldwide acquisition of Zentiva by Sanofi, Elif Çelik continued her role as the National General Manager for Zentiva within the Sanofi Group.

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​In 2011 Çelik returned to Eczacıbaşı Group as the General Manager of Eczacıbaşı-Baxter, a strategic production, marketing and sales JV. Following her appointment to this post, Çelik carried the company’s focus to the rising  biotech area and by implementing different business models, she completely renewed the portfolio strategy of the partnership. Thereafter Çelik successfully managed a full operational and financial turnaround and increased the value of the company significantly. In 2015, following Baxter's split into two separate companies as Baxter and Baxalta, Çelik managed another vast transformation project with her team and created a new biotechnology JV named as Eczacıbaşı-Baxalta.

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Elif Çelik was appointed as the President of Eczacıbaşı Healthcare Division in April 2016. Under her Division with a total of 1100 employees, she lead the management, change and transformation of 4 different companies; Eczacıbaşı Pharmaceuticals, Eczacıbaşı-Monrol Nuclear Products, Eczacıbaşı-Shire Healthcare Products and Eczacıbaşı Health Services. During this period, in addition to the management of operations in Turkey,  Middle East and the Balkans, she established an integrated Healthcare Division, with the future aim to create an integrated healthcare service model. Her clear focus on talent, Y-Gen and women leadership were all supported by strong initiatives and programs that were very helpful to raise her team’s commitment to success.

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With her strategic work on an "Integrated Healthcare Model" Celik has been nominated as the 2017 honoree for "40 Women to Watch Over 40" list that's announced globally by Forbes Magazine. She has also been listed among "Turkey's Most Powerful 50 Women CEO’s" between the years 2012-2018, by the Ekonomist Magazine. On top of being a Pharmacist, Çelik completed Strategy, Finance and Leadership Programs of Harvard Business School, London Business School and Sabancı University.

 

After her contributions for more than 25 years, Elif Çelik left the Eczacıbaşı Group by the end of 2018. Her ambition of sharing her experience on a wider level brought the fast move of establishing her first non-corporate company, ThreeD Strategic Management and Leadership Consultancy in February 2019. In addition, Elif Çelik serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Kurtsan Pharma, Kurtsan Medical and Otacı, and Independent Board Member for Centurion Pharma. She is also the founding President of Nevofarma, a dynamic company focused on making innovative treatments accessible to wider populations.

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​​​Elif Çelik is a strong supporter and role model in the area of Women Empowerment, encouraging young women for taking active roles in strategic decision-making. Thus she is a Board Member in the Women On Board Association (YKKD), member of PWN and KAGİDER in Turkey. Another area she is keen to work on is  the development of ‘Two-Winged’ young leaders, both with brilliant minds and also big hearts. She supports YGA (Young Guru Academy) on this purpose.

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