From bench to boardroom: 20 of the most influential biopharma R&D executives in drug development
Biopharma is no stranger to major scientific innovations, but when you talk to the movers and shakers in the field on who has influenced their work the most, you start to hear a few key names over and over again.
That was certainly the case when we polled industry executives on who they viewed as the R&D luminaries of note — men and women across the drug development spectrum who take major biological and chemical breakthroughs and spin them like gold into medical miracles. These are the people who opened doors to new fields of drug research, laying the foundation for much of the work now underway in the clinic.
Whether it’s next-gen cell therapies or even the once oft-forgotten field of vaccines, our list of the 20 most influential R&D executives runs the gamut on innovation. The key traits that tie them all together are persistence, collaboration and the inability to let a good idea go uninvestigated.
More than that, these are not necessarily the executives who take the most drugs over the finish line, but rather those whose work sets the table for other innovations down the road and makes the impossible possible. And before you feel inspired to ask why we left out so many extraordinary scientists, please understand that we have enormous respect for breakthrough science legends like Jim Allison and Jennifer Doudna and Phil Sharp and so many other academic Nobel prize-winners who created entire pipelines that are still filling up with new drugs.
This time we’re sticking with industry executives.
Here’s our list. Hope you enjoy — Kyle Blankenship
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