How big pharma is focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion
We take a look at what pharma companies are doing to improve diversity, equity and inclusion and how this influences clinical research
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This year Bayer topped a list of pharma companies ranked for their performance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The research by alva assessed NGO reports, regulatory data, and the sentiment in content published across social and traditional media.
Bayer secured first place due to its employee-focused innovative initiatives, among them achieving gender parity in leadership. At the end of 2021, the ratio of women to men in management at the organization was around 40/60 percent, with the goal of reaching a 50/50 split by 2025.
Additionally, for the fifth consecutive year Bayer US received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index. The index evaluates LGBTQ+ workplace equality and commended Bayer for its employee resource groups and interactive workshops.
Gilead ranked second on the list, having been named as a Best Place to Work for LGTBQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In 2020 Gilead established a Global Diversity Council committed to increasing employee and executive representation for underrepresented groups and invest in historically Black and Hispanic universities, among other initiatives.
| Rank | Company |
| 1 | Bayer |
| 2 | Gilead |
| 3 | Sanofi |
| 4 | Bristol-Myers Squibb |
| 5 | Johnson & Johnson |
| 6 | Merck |
| 7 | Pfizer |
| 8 | Takeda |
| 9 | AstraZeneca |
| 10 | Biogen |
Source: alva Pharma 2022 EDI league table rankings
Sanofi, which came third, launched a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Board in 2022, the first of its kind in the pharmaceutical industry. The company has also established a global framework for employee resource groups which will be focused on different strands including gender equity, disability inclusion and cultural backgrounds.
While multinational pharma companies like these are devoting more resources to diversity and inclusion initiatives internally, what impact will this have more widely?
The impact of diversity and inclusion in clinical research
Like Gilead, US company Abbott has also been investing in historically Black medical schools, colleges and universities with the aim of encouraging more people of color to enter the industry. Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Pharma IQ advisory board member and divisional vice president of global clinical affairs at Abbott’s vascular business, says that this is important for patient care. “There is research showing that when patients have physicians who look like them, whether in terms of gender, ethnicity or LGBTQ status, they feel they are really going to be listened to,” she says.
“It is a level of care they may not feel always exists when they are talking to someone who may not completely understand their experience.”
It is also vital for clinical research. As an example, the mortality burden of breast cancer is high among African American women, but they are not represented at the same level in clinical research as they are in the population.
Jones-McMeans believes this is changing. “I sat on a panel recently on diversity and inclusion in clinical trials with directors from Genentech, Eli Lilly, and MedTronic. These are not small companies. It is great because now we are seeing larger industry partners that have an actual role where someone is providing oversight, coaching and support for diversity and inclusion in clinical trials.”
A key factor to ensuring clinical trials are inclusive is designing them around the needs of the patient. “I always ask my teams if they have asked both the patients and the physicians what they need,” Jones-McMeans says. “It is not just about the therapy, we have to consider where the patients are located and what resources they need, so we can not only recruit the patients, but evaluate them so we have a gender or ethnic breakdown that is more representative of who is burdened by the disease.”
She adds, “when I design a clinical trial, I have a DEI plan for that trial, just as I have a statistical analysis plan, a safety plan and a data management plan. That is what will help to sustain this. We have asked across the industry for companies to add this to their culture, as a thread to the fabric of how they operate as an organization.”
Quick links
- Why diversity in pharma leadership matters
- Meet Pharma IQ’s advisory board: Jennifer Jones-McMeans
- How one company nade DEI a top priority
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