Alicia Delfino Cox

Senior business development professional with nearly 10 years' experience across CRO, clinical research and life sciences partnerships spanning early-phase development, sponsor engagement, and international market growth.

Combines

Phase I clinical operations experience with sponsor-facing commercial leadership across biotech, pharma and CRO sectors. Proven success developing strategic relationships, building pipelines and supporting clinical development opportunities across US, European and APAC markets. Experienced working with global sponsors, feasibility activities and complex clinical programmes within fast-growth environments.

Combines scientific credibility with strong relationship management, stakeholder engagement, and market insight capability, and is committed to building a long-term healthcare career within ANZ.

Senior Business Development Manager - National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) - UK

(2021-07 - 2026-03)

Promoted from BDM (2021) to Senior BDM as part of the NIHR Industry Hub, a government-mandated initiative to reduce commercial trial setup times to under 150 days and position the UK as a globally competitive clinical research destination.

• Managed a portfolio of approximately 300 pharma, biotech, CRO and HealthTech organisations, generating approximately 40% of the team's annual commercial pipeline during a period of reduced capacity through proactive sponsor engagement, market intelligence, funding-round monitoring and therapeutic pipeline tracking.
• Built and maintained long-term relationships across biotech sponsors, pharma organisations, CROs and clinical stakeholders, supporting partnership development and repeat engagement opportunities.
• Worked directly with sponsors on clinical development planning, feasibility assessment, patient population analysis, KOL identification and healthcare delivery considerations across clinical programmes.
• Guided organisations through evolving R&D landscapes, translating scientific and clinical information into commercially actionable development strategies.
• Represented NIHR across international conferences, stakeholder meetings and trade missions throughout the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, promoting clinical research capabilities and developing strategic sponsor relationships.
• Delivered presentations and capability discussions supporting commercial engagement, international expansion activities and partnership development.
• Led market intelligence activities and pipeline reporting through Salesforce CRM and commercial insight tools to support opportunity identification and growth planning.
• Represented NIHR at major clinical trial conferences including SCOPE Summit, Arab Health and Global Clinical Trials Connect.
• Co-led development of the NIHR Catalyst Taskforce and Account Management structure referenced within the UK Government Life Sciences Sector Plan, contributing to national commercial engagement strategy.
• Designed and delivered BD onboarding and education programmes supporting internal capability development and industry engagement initiatives.

Business Analyst - National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) - UK

(2019-07 - 2021-06)

Managed commercial data reporting and pipeline analytics using Salesforce CRM, producing insights for senior leadership to inform strategic account direction. Appointed to the Salesforce Change Advisory Board (CAB), leading an internal programme to redesign workflows, improve data quality, and build granular reporting across ROI, therapy areas, and case studies.

Clinical Trials Assistant - Quotient Sciences - Nottingham

(2016-06 - 2017-08)

Full-service CDMO and CRO specialising in Phase I First-in-Human clinical trials. Joined via a 12-month university placement, returned as a graduate trainee across Clinical Operations and Project Management.

Appointed Ward

Lead supporting multidisciplinary teams across Phase I first-in-human studies, coordinating operational delivery and participant activities within a specialist clinical research environment. Selected as a Trained Trainer to mentor new clinical staff; awarded Clinical Employee of the Month twice within a year.

Clinical Locum - Quotient Sciences - Nottingham

(2017-12 - 2019-01)

Supported preparation and management of the Investigator Site File, monitoring and training trial progress liaising directly with Clinical Operations to GCP standards. Prepared key trial documentation of studies to ICH and SCO standards, including protocol training materials, patient information and informed consent forms, and case report forms, ensuring audit readiness, sponsor reporting, and effective archiving on study completion.

Beauty Consultant - Clinique — John Lewis Concession - Nottingham, UK

(2013-06 - 2014-09)

Delivered consultative healthcare-style customer engagement translating scientific product information into tailored recommendations while consistently exceeding sales targets. Built strong client relationships through education, follow-up and service delivery, developing a relationship-led approach to commercial engagement.

BSc (Hons) - Human Biosciences - Northumbria University (2018)

Mini MBA - London Institute of Business and Management