Cristina Durán

At Evinova, a separate healthtech company within the AstraZeneca group, we are empowering global life sciences to accelerate better health outcomes with a suite of globally scaled digital health solutions, empowering sites, sponsors and contract research organisations to optimise the entire clinical development lifecycle.

Prior to launching Evinova in November 2023, I led AstraZeneca’s Digital Health function in Research & Development (R&D) across key therapy areas: Oncology; Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism; and Respiratory and Immunology.

I have previously held senior leadership roles across global commercial, in-country commercial, finance and R&D. I led a global transformation in clinical development across R&D functions, focusing on patients’ experiences and outcomes with benefits delivered globally.

Transforming patients’ experiences and outcomes through the use of innovative technologies is what drives our Evinova team. I am proud of our team’s work to accelerate the delivery of new medicines to patients and to redefine clinical trials to be more patient-centric, using digital technologies that improve how clinical trials are planned, delivered and managed.

Before joining AstraZeneca, I was a senior management consultant at Accenture. I led large transformation programmes, including the set up, from scratch, of a new joint venture between two technology companies, which is now a major business for a top retailer, as well as guiding business transformation strategy reviews and implementing global change initiatives for large telecoms.

I am passionate about innovation and increasing enterprise value by inspiring organisations to change for the future. I have spoken about using innovative technologies to transform patients' lives at conferences, including the Digital Health World Congress, HLTH EU, BiotechX EU, and the Financial Times Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Conference. I am a chartered accountant (CIMA) and have completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Leading Enterprise Transformation programme.

The opportunity for digital health to radically improve human health and transform patient outcomes is incredibly exciting. We are at the forefront of this healthcare revolution, powered by scientific evidence, digital, longitudinal multiomics health data, and AI.

The opportunity for digital health to radically improve human health and transform patient outcomes is incredibly exciting. We are at the forefront of this healthcare revolution, powered by scientific evidence, digital, longitudinal multiomics health data and AI.

Cristina Durán President, Evinova

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2023-Present

Empowering global life sciences to accelerate better health outcomes as President of Evinova, AstraZeneca’s healthtech subsidiary.

2019-2023

As Chief Digital Health Officer R&D at AstraZeneca, led development of digital solutions to revolutionise healthcare for patients across AstraZeneca’s portfolio of clinical trials and demonstrating improved patient experience, accelerated timelines and reduced costs. A review of clinical trial protocols across oncology, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases concluded that 74–85% of trial assessments could be successfully collected remotely, reducing the number of clinical visits by up to 40%. Published in Nature Medicine 2023.

2018-2019

Delivered a number of solutions aimed at maximising patient benefits and the value of digital technologies, data and analytics, as Vice President, Transformation, Global R&D for AstraZeneca. These included accelerating studies by median of nine months, reducing the cost of phase III trials by 20%, improving patient experience outcomes through digital therapeutics, and increasing data quality by more than 40%.

2016-2018

As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Global Medicines Development, R&D for AstraZeneca, developed a plan that led to the best years of R&D delivery in the company’s history, while significantly reducing costs.

2013-2016

Led the German market strategy review process as CFO, AstraZeneca in Germany. Galvanised line managers across all functions; set top priorities for the market, including market access, digital technology and growth in specialty care; and oversaw investments to maximise new product launches with a focus in oncology.

2009-2012

Coordinated strategy and performance review processes for more than 100 countries, and across regions globally, while serving as Global Commercial Finance Director for AstraZeneca.

2006-2009

Led the start-up of a joint venture in technology between two large global corporations, now a major business for a top retailer, and guided recommendations for a three-year company-wide business transformation programme for a large UK business in management consulting and finance roles for Accenture.

2004-2005

As Finance Business Partner for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Business operations for DELL, led a strategic review to reduce business operations costs by 50% within 12 months.

2000-2004

Started career as an accountant for 3M in the European Financial Shared Service Centre, supporting multiple countries. Saved the company 10 million euros through programming and algorithms.

Featured publications

AstraZeneca introduced digital health solutions into clinical trials, demonstrating improved patient experience, accelerated timelines and reduced costs. Durán, C.O., Bonam, M., Björk, E. et al. Implementation of digital health technology in clinical trials: the 6R framework. Nature Medicine 29, 2693–2697 (2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02489-z

Assessing adoption of decentralized clinical trial technologies and factors driving or preventing adoption, and highlighting direction for industry to enable more patient-centric trials. Daly, B., Brawley, O., Durán, C.O., et al. Remote Monitoring and Data Collection for Decentralized Clinical Trials. JAMA Network Open, 2024;7(4):e246228. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2817479