Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Hussain Al-Omar

Associate Professor of Pharmacoeconomics at King Saud University

Dr. Hussain Abdulrahman Al-Omar is a consultant and associate professor of pharmacoeconomics and pharmaceutical policy in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at King Saud University (KSU). Dr. Al-Omar further works as an executive director, senior advisor, and a committee chair and member in several governmental organizations and institutions in the healthcare sector.

Academically, Dr. Al-Omar received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine at King’s College London, UK, and holds an executive education degree in business strategy and financial performance from the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), France.

With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Al-Omar brings a unique and distinct mix of strategic, scientific, operational, and leadership expertise and is seen as a role model for many young people and experts in the fields of HTA and health economics. Moreover, his deep technical knowledge of HTA and value-based procurement, not only in pharmaceuticals but also in medical devices, diagnostics, surgical procedures and interventions, digital health, and artificial intelligence, has made him highly regarded in this field in the whole region.

Dr. Al-Omar is known as a global subject matter expert in the fields of HTA, pricing, and reimbursement, and VBP. He has given a number of talks and presentations on HTA, pricing, and reimbursement, and VBP, both nationally and internationally, to healthcare professionals, industry representatives, and policy and decision-makers. He actively collaborates as a researcher with local and international experts and institutions and has authored numerous studies on topics including HTA, managed entry agreements, and health economics.

Dr. Mohamed Farghaly

Consultant & Advisor for Health Insurance System, Dubai Health Insurance Corporation, Dubai Health Authority, EJADAH Program Lead

Dr. Mohamed Farghaly is a Consultant for the Dubai Health Insurance Corporation (DHIC), Professor at Dubai Medical College and a Consultant of Family Medicine and Diabetes at Dubai Health Authority. He is an accredited trainer in Family Medicine by the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom as well as an accredited examiner for the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

In addition to that, Dr. Farghaly is a member of both the U.A.E. Technical Committee for Diabetes as well as the U.A.E. National Diabetes Guidelines Committee where he has partaken in tens of publications. He is also the Chairman of the Emirates Family Medicine Society.

Panelist

Lavni Varyani

Founding Partner, Principal Consultant, Pharma BP

Lavni Varyani, a leader in market access in MENA, has over a decades worth of regional experience. She has worked with product launches for the vast majority of top 20 pharma companies globally, across an array of therapy areas including rare diseases, oncology, inflammatory diseases, women’s health, pulmonology and more. As the Founder Partner of Pharma BP, Lavni catapults regional companies to success in the region and has a dedicated focus on ensuring the region is gearing itself towards international pharmaceutical investments. Over the last 4 years, Lavni has had a stronger focus on regional HTA’s and has a specific interest in the impact of regional HTAs on access to patients.

Lavni is a regular speaker at international conferences, including the World Evidence, Pricing and Access Congress in Amsterdam, the World Orphan Drug Congress in Boston & Barcelona and more.

Panelist

Angela Acosta

Principal Consultant, Pharma BP

Angela holds an MPharm in Pharmacy and over a decade of extensive experience in the pharmaceutical sector, specializing in Pricing and Market Access. Her expertise lies in Payer Value Communications, Evidence Generation, Environment Analysis, Stakeholder Mapping, and HTA. She has facilitated small and medium biotech international companies in securing national marketing authorizations and navigating pricing and reimbursement. Angela’s professional journey spans across various therapeutic areas, including vaccines, neurology, oncology, endocrinology, and ophthalmology, covering all phases of product development.

Panelist

Mohamed Tannira

HTA, HEOR & RWE Professional, Abbvie

Mohamed Tannira is a seasoned Market Access, HTA, HEOR & RWE Professional with over a decade of experience in driving evidence-based healthcare solutions. His career spans leadership roles in market access, HEOR, and strategic planning, where he has demonstrated exceptional expertise in generating evidence to support product value proposition and managing research activities. Currently serving as Health Economics and RWE Manager at AbbVie Biopharmaceuticals, Mohamed leads strategic initiatives to optimize market access and ensure positive healthcare outcomes.

With a proven track record of achievements, Mohamed has successfully developed and executed strategic activities for optimal reimbursement and market access. He is skilled in collaborating with cross-functional teams and global partners to drive business success, manage research activities, and establish pivotal partnerships with governments. Mohamed’s passion for healthcare economics and outcomes research, coupled with his strategic acumen, makes him a valuable asset in shaping the future of healthcare access and pricing.

Panelist

Nermeen Ashoush

Health Economics & Outcomes Research Associate Director, Amgen

Nermeen Ashoush is working as a Health Economics & Outcomes Research Associate Director, Middle East Africa Region, Amgen. Before joining Amgen, she has been working as an Associate Professor in Health Economics & Health Policy, The British University in Egypt. Also, she was the founder & head of Health Economics Unit, Center for Drug Research & Development, The British University in Egypt. Moreover, she has been working as an adjunct professor at University of South Wales, UK for post-graduate Health Economics master program.

Panelist

Stephanie Chaccour

GCC Head of Market Access & Diagnostics Rare Diseases, AstraZeneca

Stephanie has over 14 years of healthcare leadership experience, spanning consulting, Medtech, and pharmaceuticals in various markets.

Starting at Simon Kucher & Partners and PricewaterhouseCoopers, she specialized in pricing, market access, and market entry strategies. At Baxter, she led Commercial Excellence for East Central Europe, Middle East & Africa, reshaping business models and expanding geographical presence. Stephanie then joined Novartis, focusing on specialty therapies and population health strategies.

Stephanie’s journey also led her to become an advisor at Daman, part of the Chief Government and Business Development Office. Here, her focus was on evaluating the delivery of a key government public health program and providing recommendations for optimization. Stephanie leads Market Access and Diagnostics at AstraZeneca across the GCC.

Regional HTA Expert

Dr. Abeer Al Rabayah

Health Technology Assessment Expert, Head, Center for Drug Policy and Technology Assessment at KHCC

Dr. Abeer Ahmad Al Rabayah is the head of the Center for Drug Policy and Technology Assessment (CDPTA) at the pharmacy department of King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC). Furthermore, she holds a research associate position at the Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making, and Health Technology Assessment at UMIT TIROL – University for Health Sciences and Technology, Austria. She leads the Hospital-Based Health Technology Assessment (HB-HTA) program and founded the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) fellowship program at KHCC. She has made many publications in the areas of HTA and health economics research.

Dr. Abeer has national, regional, and international roles in driving the implementation and development of HTA. She is an active member of many HTA steering committees. She chairs the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) HTA round table for the Middle East and Africa (2024-2026). Additionally, Abeer has an international role in providing evidence-based technical advice to increase affordable access to essential and priority medicines through her recent appointment by the World Health Organization in Geneva as a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Pricing Policies for Medicines (TAG-PPM). Moreover, she leads the EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L valuation study in Jordan. This study will help move the implementation of HTA forward in Jordan and the region because it will provide the required national value set needed to calculate national Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs).