Women At The Helm In Pharma

India is seeing a small but impressive rise of female leaders in pharma, with at least four top multinationals namely Pfizer, Astellas, Takeda and Merck Specialties led by women in the country. That’s besides women leaders at the helm in domestic companies like Biocon, Ltd., Piramal Enterprises Limited and Indoco Remedies Limited, among others.(Also see "The Old Order Changeth: Women CEOs at Foreign Firms In India Chart New Course" - Scrip, 19 August, 2022.)

While it’s no mean feat to land the top job at any company per se, Astellas India MD recently outlined the tough balancing act that women, more so in India, have to undertake to deliver both corporate results, while alongside ensuring that things run smoothly on the home front as well.(Also see "Astellas India MD On Action-Packed Run Ahead, Breaking The Glass Ceiling" - Scrip, 27 November, 2023.)

Nevertheless, like several other sectors, gender pay gaps are a reality or generally the norm in pharma as well, though Salil Kallianpur, a former executive vice-president at GlaxoSmithKline plc in India, pointed to reports suggesting that boards are becoming more sensitive to the issue as part of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda.

“That said, there is still ~20% pay gap at the senior-most levels in companies; however, I remain optimistic that with increasing awareness and sensitivity to these issues, gender gaps especially at CXO levels will reduce drastically over the years,” Kallianpur stated.

Dr Ajit Dangi, president and CEO of Danssen Consulting, maintained that while the percentage of women holding CEO positions in the pharmaceutical Industry in India is quite low, the good news is the number of women on boards of listed companies is on the increase, perhaps because of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs guidelines.

Last year an EY report said that India had made significant and rapid progress in increasing women representation on boards from 6% in 2013 to 18% in 2022; this, essentially as a result of the Indian corporate law mandate. Importantly, at 24%, the lifesciences sector in India led with the highest percentage of women on boards, the professional services organization said.

Dangi, though, said that gender pay parity is a “different matter” and women employees often earn around 15-20 percent less for the same position, as is the case even in some developed countries.

“This situation must be changed in a time-bound manner with conscious efforts by the boards and the HR fraternity,” he declared.

India CEO Pay: Up, Up For Most, Eye On Gender Pay Gap As Women Execs Rise

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