About

Supporting the legal operations of AstraZeneca across the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, requires a high degree of commercial alignment with the businesses goals. Ümit Çakır, as acting head of legal, finds his motivation in the end results of his counselling, seeing the direct impact that it can have on the success and security of the company. When he joined AstraZeneca the company did not have rigid in-house legal structures. With his ten-year experience in the pharmaceutical industry he designed the necessary structures and established the legal department, turning it into what it is today. During his time in this role he has had many successful Intellectual Property lawsuits and business development deals. On behalf of AstraZeneca he has had real impact on the country-wide legal landscape as well, having advocated for a law that would prohibit the sales of pharmaceutical products online. The law is now in its implementation phase. Last year AstraZeneca signed an agreement with Koç University for their cooperation on a research project concerning drug development, for which Çakır is leading the legal support and acting chairman of the Intellectual Property committee. When working with external law firms he would like to see outside counsel more aligned with the business goals: ‘I’m acting as the mediator between the client and external counsel, so it would be good if they could improve their knowledge on the local industry, the real needs and dynamics of the business’ he says.