ELEVATE: Jonina Gudmundsdottir on Leading with Confidence: Building Trust in Pharma

In the latest episode of Elevate: Women Leading the Way in Pharma Outsourcing, Marianne Gissane speaks with Jonina Gudmundsdottir, CEO of Coripharma, about executive leadership in the generic pharmaceutical industry, building high-trust global partnerships, and how women can confidently step into senior roles in pharma.

With more than two decades of experience across business development, licensing, and global commercial strategy, Jonina has helped scale pharmaceutical businesses internationally and now leads Coripharma’s development, out-licensing and supply operations across global markets.

This episode explores what it truly takes to lead in today’s complex, regulated pharma outsourcing environment, and why confidence, agility and long-term relationship building remain critical to success.

Jonina shares her journey from studying pharmacy in Iceland to becoming employee number seven at Medis, where she helped scale the business from €20 million to over €500 million in revenue. Reflecting on her early exposure to registration, marketing, finance and international deal-making, she describes how working in small, agile environments became the foundation for her leadership philosophy. Drawing on her experience in business development, global licensing and now CEO leadership, Jonina offers practical insight into what it takes to lead with clarity, resilience and confidence in a competitive, highly regulated industry.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• How early cross-functional experience can accelerate leadership readiness
• Why trust is the true currency in B2B pharma partnerships
• What scaling from entrepreneurial growth to global operations really teaches you
• Why mixed-gender teams consistently outperform homogeneous ones
• How to build confidence and show up powerfully at the negotiation table
• The importance of visibility, networking and claiming your ambition early in your career

“You cannot sit and wait for someone to come to you. You have to be noticeable and flag your ambition.” — Jonina Gudmundsdottir, CEO, Coripharma

About Jonina Gudmundsdottir

Jonina Gudmundsdottir is Chief Executive Officer of Coripharma, a global generics pharmaceutical company specialising in development, out-licensing and supply partnerships.

With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she previously held senior leadership roles at Medis, where she played a pivotal role in international expansion and strategic growth.

She is recognised for combining commercial strategy with people-centred leadership to drive sustainable performance in the global generics market.

Listen to the Full Episode

Listen to this episode of Elevate: Women Leading the Way in Pharma Outsourcing on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

For more insights on women in pharma leadership, executive hiring in life sciences, and leadership development in CDMO and biotech organisations, explore our latest articles and conversations.

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