What Advice Do You Have Regarding Successful Strategies You Have Seen Implemented In The Biopharma Industry Due To COVID-19 That Should Remain?

ADOPT A FLEXIBLE APPROACH THAT CAN BE ADAPTED TO CHANGING/PREVAILING MANDATED REGULATIONS and implement track-and-trace systems. Proactive companies are determining how many days per week or month employees need to be at their workplace, rather than working remotely. For manufacturing and laboratory personnel, their jobs require almost 100% regular working, but with new deployments with staggered shifts to reduce density. For salesforces, the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to shift, forever, to more efficient working — with some in-person meetings with customers, interspersed with virtual formats and digital presentation of information. While Zoom and similar teleconferencing formats are highly effective, when it comes to fostering creativity amongst a team, in-person exchanges cannot always be replaced with digital meetings.

DAVID PYOTT is the chairman of Bioniz Therapeutics, a small startup in Irvine, CA. The former CEO of Allergan also serves on the corporate boards of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and Royal Philips.