BioLife Plasma Services
Hema Tallman, SVP and Global Head of BioLife Plasma Services at Takeda, an industry leader in the collection of high-quality plasma and a supporting driver in the production of life-saving plasma-derived therapies (PDTs). She discusses the importance of the consumer experience by leveraging her experience in health retail as she drives BioLife’s efforts to create a future-ready organization that can meet the growing needs of patients who rely on PDTs. Tallman also shares her personal insights that supported her growth as a leader.
Hema Tallman is a compassionate leader known for transparent and authentic communication and cultivating resilient, high-performing individuals and teams. She is currently Senior Vice President and Global Head of BioLife Plasma Services at Takeda, with leadership of more than 225 plasma donation centers, three testing labs and responsibility for more than 10,000 team members.
Tallman joined BioLife in 2016 as the Head of U.S. Operations, later expanding responsibility to a global role and ultimately leading the entire organization. Since joining BioLife, Tallman has strategically grown plasma volume by 100%, almost tripled the network footprint, and delivered more than 30% improvement in workforce efficiency. At BioLife, Tallman also established a Transformation Office to drive technological and innovative advancements that helped her lead the industry through the delivery of an exceptional and differentiated donor experience. In line with Takeda’s strong focus on the planet, Tallman also established a Center of Excellence for Sustainability, which will advance progress towards Takeda’s goals of reducing emissions, waste and water over the next decade.
At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Tallman took on leadership for the Collections and Logistics arm of the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, which was founded by Takeda and CSL Behring and included 11 world-leading plasma companies dedicated to providing the convalescent plasma needed to support the development and clinical trial of a hyperimmune globulin. During this time, Tallman led BioLife to a best-in-industry donation total for convalescent plasma. She also steered the source plasma business during this unprecedented time to emerge as the industry leader in delivering supply for plasma-derived therapies. A hallmark of Tallman’s leadership is her ability to inspire a team through engagement; under her leadership, BioLife has had record employee retention rates, even amidst a tumultuous macroeconomic environment.
Prior to joining Takeda, Tallman held diverse roles of increasing responsibility over more than two decades within the retail healthcare sector. As the Vice President of Operations at Rite Aid, Tallman was responsible for pharmacy and retail operations and the profitability of 300 retail pharmacies in the Northwest US, the company’s leading revenue-driving region. Among her key accomplishments, Tallman created a global recruiting and retention strategy that offset a longstanding shortage of pharmacists; oversaw the remodeling of 179 stores to new Health and Wellness format; and launched the first urgent care clinics and built strategic alliances to ensure success.
Her experiences have spanned broadly as previously, Tallman was the Vice President of Strategic Procurement at Albertsons, where she built a strategic procurement organization supporting 2,500 stores, 15 distribution centers, and 11 regional offices. In that role, she implemented a standardized business process and methodical sourcing practices that resulted in $250M in bottom-line savings over three years. She also served as the Director of Pharmacy Technology and Design at Albertsons, where she oversaw the deployment of advanced Pharmacy Technology Systems into pharmacies nationwide, including the first-to-market deployment of Pharmacy Robotic Systems and e-prescribing technology into community pharmacies nationwide.
Tallman earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) from Rhodes University in South Africa and attended the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of her work at Takeda, Tallman enjoys spending time with her family and French bulldogs, traveling, baking, and hiking.
