Irene von Hennigs, PharmD
Irene von Hennigs, PharmD, is a senior pharmaceutical executive serving as Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs at Beren Therapeutics in Charlotte, North Carolina. With over 30 years in the biopharma industry since 1995, she specializes in Medical Affairs leadership with a particular emphasis on rare diseases. She is recognized for her ability to integrate scientific rigor with strategic business insight to shape global medical strategies, build high-impact organizations, and support the development of therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.
Throughout her career, Irene has held senior leadership roles across leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie, and AstraZeneca. Her most notable professional achievement has been building high-performing medical affairs teams and contributing to the successful advancement and launch of products for rare disease populations. She has consistently led global and U.S. medical affairs organizations, driving operational excellence, evidence generation, and strong cross-functional collaboration to support products across all stages of development and lifecycle management.
In her current role, Irene’s work is guided by a strong patient-first philosophy, where her number one priority is serving patients and caregivers in rare disease—her “North Star.” She emphasizes that every decision, from evidence generation to scientific education, must ultimately support the needs of patients and families. She currently works primarily with infants and newborns, while also drawing on experience across a wide range of therapeutic areas and patient populations throughout her career. Having recently started her new role, she brings both professional expertise and personal empathy to her work, deeply understanding the challenges families face and ensuring that patients are always treated with the same care and respect as if they were her own family.
• Notre Dame de Namur University - BA, Biology
• Mercer University - PharmD
• Medical Affairs Professional Associations
• Medical Societies Related to Rare Diseases
• Church Activities
What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to my parents investing in good education and good ethics, and doing the right thing, and owning everything you do, no matter what it is. They instilled in me the importance of taking responsibility for my actions and maintaining strong ethical standards throughout my career.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Love what you do, and do it well.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Believe in yourself. You've got a lot more abilities than you think you do. I have two daughters in their early 20s, and the world is tough, right? And I tell them, there's nothing you cannot do. Believe in yourself and have the compassion. Women are so humble and often don't advocate for themselves, but they're extremely capable. With social media now, there's so much insecurity, but you need to know that you can do anything. Women are the future, and I truly believe that the future is in the hands of women.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think that the biggest challenge is that there's a lot going on in biotech, and bringing a drug to market to serve patients that are beyond hopeless in rare diseases - it's a challenge and it's an opportunity at the same time. It's doable if you do it right. You have to make sure that you take it to heart. I tell my team, those kids that we work with, or any patient or any caregiver, is a family member. If you're serving them the same way you would serve your own, then you're doing a good job.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say ethics doing the right thing, no matter what the consequences are. And respecting all humanities, no matter what the background is. These values guide everything I do, both professionally and personally.
Locations
Beren Therapeutics
Charlotte, NC 28216