The Cover Stories of 2023

Enabling Authenticity

Natalie Bickford, chief people officer at Sanofi, reveals how she approaches the employee experience, which ultimately influences employee retention, and discusses the importance of a corporate DE&I strategy in those efforts.

Built for the Moment

Starting out with limited pharma business knowledge, how the lessons learned and realizations made helped to forge a destined—and globe-spanning—leadership path for Christophe Bourdon, where today, as CEO of LEO Pharma, he is tasked with steering the longtime company’s return to profitability.

The Pivot to Digital

Chronicling Davidek Herron’s career crossover from playing professional basketball to leading Roche’s digital transformation and scale-up efforts—and the team lessons learned along the way.

Unwavering Focus

Christi Shaw, this year’s Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Woman of the Year, stays true to her beliefs—and life mission—of helping others.

2023’s Emerging Pharma Leaders

Pharm Exec profiles its 2023 Emerging Pharma Leaders.

2023 Pharm Exec Top 50 Companies

With the sales boom from COVID-19 products now in the rear-view, a resetting is underway for those in Pharm Exec’s listing of the top biopharma producers—shifting attention to new Rx roads ahead and the steady strategies needed to navigate a bumpy business terrain.

Crossing the Brain Barrier

COMPASS Pathways’ CEO, Kabir Nath, has a clear vision for psychedelics—and is leading the way with the company’s focus on psilocybin and efforts to separate the science from the hype.

A Fierce Focus On Unmet Need

From public defender to spearheading the adoption of innovative drugs, Wendy Short Bartie, senior VP and general manager for the hematology and cell therapy division at Bristol Myers Squibb, has remained a steadfast patient advocate—working to fulfill unmet medical needs and bring treatments to as many people as possible.

A New Era of Ethical Leadership

Lisa LeCointe-Cephas, SVP, chief ethics and compliance officer and office of general counsel, human health, Merck, uses her unique style of leadership—stop, drop, and roll—while elevating voices that need to be heard.

A Blueprint for Balance

Stephen Rivera, vice president, global technical accounting advisory services and policy, Johnson & Johnson, capitalizes on his lively personality—and a courageous career journey—to bring people together to shape the future of biopharma.

2024 Pipeline Report: First-World Focus

Pharm Exec’s 19th annual report on the trends of the day in drug development examines the surging investment in new treatments and advances for so-called “first-world” conditions, capturing the landscape of five expanding therapeutic areas: weight loss, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, COPD, and psychedelics.

Finding that Spark

Lisa Conte, founder, president, and CEO of Jaguar Health, discusses how a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro would vault her to her true career calling—and spark a decades-long quest to accelerate breakthroughs in plant-based pharmaceuticals and supportive care.