Pharma commercialization partner Valeris is bolstering its strategic expertise with the appointment of patient services vet Lauren Cole as its new chief strategy officer.
Cole joins the Indiana and North Carolina-based company from Verona Pharma, where she served as VP of patient services and was responsible for leading a newly served business arm that drove “substantially improved patient access outcomes through innovation,” Valeris said in a Tuesday press release. Her tenure at Verona extended through its $10 billion acquisition by Merck until she departed in May 2026.
Before that, Cole was stationed at Ardelyx, where she climbed the ranks to executive director of patient services and helped to create a patient services model implemented across the pharma’s drug portfolio. Elsewhere, Cole’s resume includes leadership spots at Zealand Pharma, ConnectiveRx and Akebia Therapeutics, among others.
"Lauren has built a career around ensuring patients don't absorb the friction created by disconnected functions," Valeris’ chief commercial officer Scott Filosi commented.
Cole will report to Filosi and will look to ensure the company’s commercial strategy, market access, innovation and patient services teams are “working off the same playbook, so our growth and innovation always translate into a better patient experience,” Filosi added.
The newly appointed strategy chief is “excited to help bring our cross-functional teams even closer together to deliver the best experience for our partners, providers, and most importantly, our patients,” Cole noted in the release.
Valeris was born last year through the merger of life sciences commercialization partner Mercalis and patient services provider PharmaCord. Backed by global investment firm Permira and Odyssey Investment Partners, the combined platform was meant to unite commercialization and patient access capabilities to reach the entire healthcare value chain.
So far, the company has supported over 44 million patients and delivered $34 billion in patient savings, according to its website. It works with more than 500 life sciences customers and provides a host of integrated commercial solutions such as patient support services and healthcare provider engagement as well as end-to-end partnership offerings including strategy consulting, data and access and market access.