Kristen Raimondi, who has now been with Regeneron for over five years and working on its hematology marketing since 2023, originally imagined that she would pursue a career in clinical research. She fell in love with biology as an undergrad at Dartmouth, but then took a pause.
“Before I dedicated another decade of my life to further education, I decided that I should probably go broaden my horizons and see what else was out there,” she said in a recent interview.
Her next stop ended up being not a Ph.D. program, but business school at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton, where she received an MBA.
While on one level, Raimondi’s career path may look like it took an abrupt turn, a commitment to medical advances that can transform lives has been at the heart of all of her professional pursuits. In her current role as associate director of U.S. hematology marketing at Regeneron, that interest is combined with something else she also thrives on: the fast-paced nature of business, which, she’s realized, suits her more than hours in a lab.
In a Q&A for Fierce Pharma Marketing’s “Rising Stars” series, Raimondi explained why being part of Regeneron’s hematology launch was a career highlight and shared the benefits she enjoys from a hobby she picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic—and no, it’s not baking bread.
Responses have been lightly edited.
Fierce Pharma Marketing: What inspired you to pursue a career in pharma marketing, and what keeps you motivated?
Kristen Raimondi: I love what I do for a couple of reasons. The first is the fast-paced nature of the work and the way that the landscape in oncology is constantly changing. I love the merging of the strategic and the operational as well.
But, most importantly, I think that what we do has a lot of purpose. At the end of the day, what we do is for patients. It’s more than pretty ads—it’s about helping physicians to learn about new products and helping them overcome the barriers that might make it difficult for them to offer those options. It’s about empowering physicians to be able to offer new options to patients. And with those new options comes new hope for patients. I’m really proud to play a part in that.
FPMK: What has been the most rewarding or challenging project you’ve worked on so far?
KR: Building out our hematology commercial business unit and supporting our first launch in hematology. As a member of the inaugural hematology team, I had so many opportunities to see the entire launch process end to end. Everything from initial insights gathering to the positioning, the messaging, developing the promotional materials, the targeting, the strategy. I got to either own or be very heavily involved in all of those different steps. It was an amazing career opportunity.
For Regeneron, it also represented a number of firsts: our first hematology launch, our first [unpartnered] launch in oncology, our first time launching a full asset through the accelerated approval process, our first time with a nurse educator team. I could go on and on.
FPMK: If you could give one piece of advice to industry veterans who’ve been in pharma marketing for decades, what would it be?
KR: Never stop learning, and be open to new ideas, no matter where they come from. One thing that was interesting for me as part of building out the hematology business unit and launching this new product was that great ideas can come from anywhere. We got great ideas about how to operationalize certain components or certain marketing messages from all different teams that may not be directly responsible for marketing. If you keep an open mind and leverage the diversity of experiences on different teams, that will lead to the best outcomes.
FPMK: What do you like to do when you’re not working on Regeneron projects?
KR: My husband and I love to travel. We just came back from Turkey and Greece, and we’re hoping to go to Morocco next, maybe as our 2026 trip. In terms of hobbies, I really enjoy playing the violin. It was always something that I really wanted to do but never did as a kid. So, during COVID, I decided to pick it up. It’s a very humbling instrument. I’m certainly no virtuoso, but I really enjoy the challenge of learning something new. It’s a great way to use my brain in a different way and decompress from the day.
Know a standout early-career pharma marketing pro? Send your nominations for future "Rising Stars" honorees to apark@questex.com.