Rajeev Venkayya

Who is Rajeev Venkayya?

Dr. Rajeev Venkayya is the Executive Vice President and Head of the Vaccine Business at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity, he is responsible for Takeda’s longstanding vaccine business in Japan, and the global expansion of this business through R&D and commercial partnerships, including the recent acquisitions of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals and Inviragen.

Dr. Venkayya was previously the Director for Global Health Delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversaw the foundation’s top two priorities of polio eradication and new vaccine introduction. This included the foundation’s engagement and investments in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and GAVI, and an investment portfolio of approximately $500 million/year. He served as a member of the GAVI Board. He reported to the President of Global Health, Dr. Tachi Yamada.

Previously, Dr. Venkayya was the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Biodefense at the White House. He was appointed to this position in May 2005.