Two Biopharma Female Execs Pen Open Letter Opposing Firms that Hire Models for Industry Parties

Two Biopharma Female Execs Pen Open Letter Opposing Firms that Hire Models for Industry Parties
February 4, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Two high-level life science executives, both women, have sent an open letter urging change concerning a practice of hiring models at industry conference cocktail parties.

At a recent cocktail party held outside the Exploratorium in San Francisco during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the host, New York-based financial communications company LifeSci Advisors, also hired at least two female models wearing what are described as “matching short, tight, black dresses with shoulder cutouts,” to mingle with the crowd. About 9,000 people attended the Conference, with about 1,000 attending the party.

What is underscored is an apparent lack of gender diversity in the biopharma industry at the executive levels. BloombergBusiness, for example, notes that at one area there were 47 people, of which only two were women.

Andrew McDonald, founding partner at LifeSci, is the individual behind hiring the models, a practice he started last year. “When you think about going to a party, when you don’t have any models, it’s going to be 90/10, or even greater, male-to-female,” he told BloombergBusiness. “Adding in some females changes the dynamic quite a bit.”

The open letter was penned by Kate Bingham, a managing partner at SV Life Sciences, a UK-based venture capital firm, and Karen Bernstein, co-founder and chairman of biopharma publisher BioCentury. The letter states, in part, “Are we still working with people who think of women as chattel? What compelling business rationale could there possibly be for that kind of entertainment? It doesn’t matter who, or what kind of company, organized these events. If biotech executives attend, they endorse them. That reflects not only on them as individuals, but on us as an industry.”

Several hundred individuals have signed the letter so far, according to STAT. Bingham told STAT, “I’ve had senior management from many pharma companies who have heard about this email me and asking how to sign.”

Bingham also added that these types of problematic issues occurred at other locations than the main hotel where JP Morgan held the conference.

In a Jan. 13 article in BloombergBusiness, Anna Protopapas, chief executive officer of Mersana Therapeutics Inc., said at the time, “It’s clearly not how women should be portrayed.” She added that she had declined to attend the LifeSci party, instead going to several women-only events.

According to FierceBiotech, about 40 percent of the “qualified workforce” in biopharma are women, and only about 10 percent have positions on the board. A Lifestream survey conducted in 2014 found that women had a slightly higher presence on big biotech companies compared to small caps, but held only about 15 percent of the top jobs.

Other women present also expressed concerns, suggesting that it was more widespread than two models in a crowd of 1,000. Magda Marquet, co-founder and co-chairwoman of Althea Inc. in San Diego told the Phoenix Business Journal that she was “shocked” by the practice. She also pointed out that the fundamental reason behind it is that women are underrepresented at the highest levels of the biopharma industry. “If we were out there, they wouldn’t have to replace us with models. I think we have to find ways to be more present.”

McDonald has indicated he will continue to hire models for his parties, although with the current backlash that may now be in question. He did tell the Phoenix Business Journal that there were only six C-suite women among his 70 biotech clients that attended the JP Morgan conference.

Bloomberg indicates that out of 112 senior management roles at the 10 highest-value companies in biopharma, only 20 are women. In addition, of the top 10 biotech startups that raised the most money in 2014, women represented only 8 percent of board members and 19 percent of top executives.

McDonald said that his firm hosted an event in June and hired male models, but noted, “It was really awkward. The male models were just standing around talking to themselves, and they were relatively young relative to the other men at the party.”

It’s hard to say whether that’s a reflection of the social skills and training of the male models, or something to do with gender mix.

Rachel King, chief executive officer of GlycoMimetics Inc., and former chairwoman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), told BloombergBusiness, “Having the network is so critical. We need all kinds of diversity in this industry, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because that’s how we achieve excellence.”

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