BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong headed to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference with a months-long story idea brewing. Unfortunately, it was one she’s written before.
I rarely get writer’s block. But this week, it happened, even though it was for a story I have been thinking about for months.
I had an inkling of an idea that fewer biotechs were emerging with women as CEOs. Watching company debuts for the past few years, women at the helm were rare. And every release touted the executive team’s “proven leadership.” Meaning, they rode a biotech to an exit and are now back with a new company. It’s a natural cycle but one that perpetuates an unconscious bias that keeps women out of the industry’s top positions.
So I headed to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January with this in mind. I made a conscious effort to interview more women, and I asked them: What do you think of the revolving door of men returning to run biotechs? Why aren’t more women getting these opportunities?
And boy, did the women I spoke with have some thoughts. You can read them in my story called “Women Leaders Decline in Biotech’s Era of ‘Proven Leadership” published alongside this editorial.
But back to the writer’s block—I just couldn’t start this story, even though I had brilliant quotes and smart analysis from some incredible women in this industry. I always say that the writing is the easy part; it’s gathering the interviews that’s the tough part of being a journalist. But this time was different.
And so, I turned to data. Here at BioSpace, we keep a running list of all series A raises and company launches in the biopharma industry. I began looking at the leadership of every company on the list, and my suspicions were quickly confirmed: every biotech that has launched so far this year has had a man in charge.
I went back further. No women CEOs in December 2024, and none in November of last year either. In data reaching back to October 2023, I found just nine biotechs out of 102 with women in the top spot.
I will note that I found a glimmer of hope in my research, as more women seem to be taking on Chief Scientific or Chief Medical Officer roles in biotech. That’s a glass ceiling that women have largely been unable to break on the pharma side of the world. All of the top 20 pharmas by market cap currently have men leading the scientific arms of their organizations.
As I crunched the numbers, I got more and more mad. I realized why I was having so much trouble writing this story—it’s because I have written it before. Many times.
Despite countless amazing, talented, intelligent women in this industry, biopharma still thinks that “proven leadership” means a man. I’m not saying this is happening on purpose. And I’m not saying men aren’t worthy of these positions. I just know there are hundreds of women out there who are ready to lead. I know because I’ve met them.
It wasn’t hard to book interviews with incredible women in biopharma at J.P. Morgan. Just ask the Biotech CEO Sisterhood, whose recent initiatives we also feature in another story out this week. The Sisterhood has a list of available experts for speaking positions or companies looking for job candidates.
When I interviewed Sisterhood co-founders Julia Owens and Sheila Gujrathi, one story they told me really stuck out. That morning, Johnson & Johnson had announced the $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, a central nervous system disorder–focused biopharma company headed by Sharon Mates. Owens said the Sisterhood WhatsApp channel was “on fire” with discussion of that deal, specifically the fact that Mates was not mentioned in much of the press coverage. Instead, many outlets used a photo of J&J CEO Joaquin Duato.
But Mates negotiated that deal for her company.
“Sharon Mates is a rock star, and she’s amazing, and she’s built that company for many, many years. Why the hell are you not mentioning her as the leader and showing her picture when there’s a $14 billion acquisition?” Owens said. “If you don’t see her face, you don’t associate a proven leader with a woman.”
Now it’s time for a mea culpa: or media culpa, I guess. After this interview, I frantically went back and checked BioSpace’s own coverage of this deal. While we had not featured a photo of Duato (that’s not really our style anyway), we also did not initially mention Mates. We later added in a quote from her with an editor’s note explaining the change. As a team, we decided that all future deal stories like this will at least mention the CEO name, no matter who they are.
So there, we were complicit in the unconscious bias that keeps the definition of proven leadership focused on men. We’re going to do better. I urge my peers in this small circle of biopharma journalism to do the same.
But this industry needs fundamental change in how it finds its leaders. To the venture capital firms, investment teams, etc., who are behind company creation in biopharma: hire more women. To C-suite executives and boards: hire more women. To any manager looking at resumes in this industry: hire more women. If you need help, ask the Biotech CEO Sisterhood. They’ve got a list of names for you to consider. You may suddenly find yourselves spoiled for choice.
