Recent events in the US have highlighted issues of race and equality, causing many biopharmaceutical CEOs to consider what their companies can do to better serve patients and communities. Seizing the moment, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization added opportunities to its virtual annual meeting to allow executives with experience diversifying their firms’ talent a chance to advise their peers about taking similar actions.
It’s an acute issue for the biopharmaceutical industry, which has few African-American chief executives. BIO’s new president and CEO Michelle McMurray-Heath is an African-American woman, and the organization has made diversity a priority in recent years, though there has previously been more attention paid to gender issues