Letter from the Editor

Celebrating firsts…

Last month we witnessed Kamala Harris sworn in as the first woman, Black, and South Asian American as the 49th Vice President of the United States by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to be named to the bench and just the third woman to be named to the high court.

In addition to celebrating these historic firsts, we wanted to draw attention to a couple of other remarkable women who broke through and shattered glass ceilings in their own way. For example, Flossie Wong-Staal, Ph.D., was a pioneering scientist at the NIH. She was a major figure in the discovery of HIV and the first to clone that virus. She was the first female in her family to attend university; she pursued both her undergraduate and graduate education at UCLA, earning a degree in bacteriology and a doctorate in molecular biology. Her contribution to the areas of bacteriology and retroviruses has been vital to understanding HIV and AIDS, and paved the way for later advancements. Unfortunately, she died July 8, 2020, from a pneumonia infection. She was 73 years old. We also want to recognize Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist, who along with Emmanuelle Charpentie, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020. She was one of the primary developers of CRISPR, a groundbreaking technology for editing genomes that offers the promise to put an end to diseases. These remarkable women’s contributions to our industry are just two of the thousands of stories worth noting.

In 2019, PharmaVOICE made the decision to celebrate pioneering women throughout our community through our Woman of the Week or WoW podcast program. The uptake of this program by our audience, by both the women and the men — who are just as interested in elevating the conversation around equity in the workplace — has been beyond our wildest expectations. Over the past couple of years, we have had the privilege of speaking with more than 100 women leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, commercial experts, technology pioneers, etc. from across the life-sciences spectrum. They have shared their career journeys, lessons learned, breakthroughs, and breakdowns as well as the wow moments that led to some of the most authentic transformative events in their lives and careers. (Check out the catalog of interviews at https://www.pharmavoice.com/wow-podcasts.)

As a way to further capture the energy around this program,
PharmaVOICE is hosting a full-day virtual program on March 3 featuring more than a dozen amazing women leaders as well as releasing an e-book anthology recapping our 2020 WoW participants. The event is scheduled to coincide with week-long activities associated with 2021’s International Women’s Day on March 8. For more information or to register, please go to http://bit.ly/WoWEvent-2021.
We recognize there is still significant work to be done in terms of closing some of the gaps related to gender equity in the workplace, but for now let’s celebrate all of the broken glass and those who are blazing new paths for future generations.

Taren Grom, Editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their word…

Robin Robinson
Senior Editor

The pandemic has forced marketers to shift to more digital and virtual strategies to reach important stakeholders and this is a transition that is unlikely to reverse.

Kim Ribbink
Senior Editor

Healthcare is an in-demand space for investment, hitting $80.6 billion in equity funding in 2020.

Carolyn Gretton
Features Editor

Despite a slowdown in 2020, the cell and gene therapy sector is poised for robust growth in the coming years, with 16 of the top 20 biopharma companies adding cell and gene therapy products to their rosters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming in March

Special issue: The Patient Voice
Patient Stories
Clinical Trial Trends
Commercial Trends
Patient Engagment Trends
20th Anniversary of PharmaVOICE
Chief Patient Officers
Patient Heroes
Showcase:
Real-World Evidence

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masthead

The forum for the industry executive

Volume 21 • Number 2
Publisher Lisa Banket
Editor Taren Grom
Creative Director Marah Walsh

Senior Editors
Robin Robinson
Kim Ribbink

Features Editor
Carolyn Gretton

Design Associate
Ariel Medel

National Account Manager
Suzanne Besse

National Account Representative
Amy Bishop

Webcast Network Producer
Daniel Limbach

Circulation Assistant
Kathy Deiuliis

PharmaVoice (ISSN: 1932961X) is published monthly except joint issues in July/Aug. and Nov./Dec., by PharmaLinx LLC, P.O. Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Periodicals postage paid at Titusville, NJ 08560 and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to PharmaVOICE, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345.

PharmaVoice Coverage and Distribution:
Domestic subscriptions are available at $190 for one year (10 issues). Foreign subscriptions: 10 issues US$360. Contact PharmaVoice at P.O. Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Call us at 609.730.0196 or FAX your order to 609.730.0197.

Contributions: PharmaVoice is not responsible for unsolicited contributions of any type. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, PharmaVoice retains all rights on material published in PharmaVoice for a period of six months after publication and reprint rights after that period expires. E-mail: [email protected].

Change of address: Please allow six weeks for a change of address. Send your new address along with your subscription label to PharmaVoice, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345. Call us at 800.607.4410 or FAX your change to 937.890.0221. E-mail: [email protected].

Important notice: The post office will not forward copies of this magazine. PharmaVoice is not responsible for replacing undelivered copies due to lack of or late notification of address change.

Advertising in PharmaVoice: To advertise in PharmaVoice please contact our Advertising Department at P.O. Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560, or telephone us at 609.730.0196. E-mail: [email protected].

Letters …

Send your letters to feedback@pharmavoice.com. Please include your name, title, company, and business phone number. Letters chosen for publication may be edited for length and clarity. All submissions become the property of PharmaLinx LLC.

Download PDF