Tackling the existing gender gap in the biotech sector

Skilling women researchers and nurturing women CEOs

Today’s society is very advanced – in so many ways.

From the cars people drive, to the way they communicate with one another, to the places people can travel to – and how they can get there.

But unfortunately, gender disparity is still evident for female CEOs, particularly in the Biotech sector.

Most people know that gender inequality still exists in some form, but often no action is taken to change it. With women being underrepresented, it might be having a negative impact on the overall outcomes.

“In order to run a company, one has to be worth more than just their research capabilities, there’s lots of more skills that are necessary,” Dr. Zeenia Kaul from Reheva Biosciences reveals. “During my training as a researcher, I was not necessarily offered an opportunity to learn those skills.

“I had to learn them on job.

“Some of the skills necessary to run a successful biotech startup or business are very different.

“As a scientist, I should be able to read a balance sheet and understand what it means for my business.

“I was very fortunate to have business education that allowed me to get the skillset and have a co-founder who had started companies and expanded them.”

Cure Brain Cancer Foundation CEO Lance Kawaguchi reveals a similar tale of not many females being – or becoming CEOs – in the sector.

“When I joined the not-for-profit sector two years ago, I didn’t really see any women CEOs,” Kawaguchi adds. “That’s why I wanted to make sure that all the funds that we raised, are going to be dispersed based off merit, not on gender.”

So, how can change be facilitated, not only in the sector but across the board?

“I want to create an ecosystem, so that the biotechs are provided with the commercial experience of how to do intellectual property (IP) law; how to read a balance sheet when you’re doing a debt deal,” Kawaguchi asserts.

“I find many of the researchers, brilliant as they are, don’t have the finance or the business acumen.

“And that’s one thing I’m trying to provide – not only the funding, but also the support to fill in the gaps, to help them progress through each phase,” he says.

Another major obstacle that Kawaguchi points out is the lack of funding given to some companies at Phase zero, especially those startups that don’t have a track record of successful venture capital raises.

“How do you get a track record if you’re not given an opportunity?” he posits. “The more we can support that Phase zero phase or Phase one research, the more shots on goal.

“And this is how we get more from the bench to the bedside – by supporting the front end of the pipeline.”