A D&I Program Worth Replicating
By Ben Comer, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Most biopharmaceutical companies, at least companies that have reached a certain size, have by now instituted formal diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs. Ninety-four percent of PhRMA’s member companies responding to a survey published in December 2020 reported the existence of “employee resource groups” within their organizations, defined as an “employer recognized group of employees who share the concerns of a common race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation.”
Such groups can play a crucial role in “driving D&I synergies and scaling up efforts within an organization,” according to the PhRMA report. External groups, such as the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, which was founded in 1977, have contributed immensely in furthering the careers of women in life sciences through mentorship, personal networks, and advocacy. And yet, women and people from diverse backgrounds remain underrepresented in the upper echelons of the biopharma C-suite.
At the June BIO convention, Marianne De Backer, a member of the executive committee at Bayer and head of pharmaceuticals business development (BD) and licensing, sat down with me to talk about “D&I Accelerate.” [Separately, I moderated a BIO panel with De Backer and Vividion Therapeutics on Bayer’s “arm's length model,” which is the subject of this month’s cover story.] De Backer started the D&I Accelerate program at Johnson & Johnson, where she led M&A operations and divestitures at Janssen and business development for Janssen’s global infectious diseases and vaccines franchise. The impetus for the program, says De Backer, was her observation that women and diverse talent tended to get stuck at the level of director, or lower levels of management, for years. “I saw all of this incredible female talent — Ph.D.s, MBAs — and they were eight years in the same role. I thought, how is this possible, they have so much potential and could be doing so many other things?"
De Backer’s D&I Accelerate program, now up and running at Bayer, puts out a companywide call twice a year for applicants interested in joining De Backer’s BD and licensing team for a six- to nine-month period. Between five and seven individuals are selected for rotations, and their jobs are protected and covered by a temporary worker for the duration of the program. De Backer hands out challenging assignments to participants — a recent assignment was responsibility for a brand divestiture — paired with mentoring support and direct executive visibility. “I’m going to throw you in the water, and you will have to swim,” she says.
At Johnson & Johnson, not a single D&I Accelerate program participant ended up going back to her old job after the rotation on De Backer’s team. Some took on new roles of increased leadership and others joined De Backer’s team full time. The program serves a dual purpose of fostering leadership qualities and confidence and also provides a talent pipeline for De Backer’s BD and licensing team.
Although the scale of D&I Accelerate is small compared with broad company and industry initiatives aimed at leveling the playing field, the results are tangible, aligned with business interests, and can be life-changing for participants. It is also replicable across teams and divisions. As planning for 2023 gets underway, perhaps it’s something to consider.