Neil Harris
General Manager, Abbott
Biography/Career
I have been General Manager of Abbott’s diabetes care business in the UK and Ireland for three and a half years, I also chair the Abbott UK leadership team which includes heads of all UK commercial, corporate and manufacturing sites and functions, across nutrition, diagnostics and medical devices, who are responsible for over 2,500 staff. I have also chaired our Crisis Action Team throughout the current pandemic.
I’m fortunate to have developed a wide network of industry and policy-related contacts over the years. I am proud to have been an ABHI Board member since 2017 and one of the ABHI representatives on the Government’s Health Technology Partnership (HTP) group. This was established in early 2018 to drive engagement between the health tech industry and Ministers.
Two of my passions are people management and fostering the use of innovation. In terms of innovation, I have most recently led the successful introduction of Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Glucose Monitoring system into the NHS.
Before joining Abbott, I worked for Johnson & Johnson in various commercial roles for 11 years, leading business units focusing on general surgery and cardiovascular.
At the start of my commercial career, I worked at Ab-InBev for eight years, undertook various commercial roles with increasing responsibility, and therefore have extensive experience of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) sector.