Biopharma leaders paving the way for LGBTQ+ scientists, patients, entrepreneurs and C-suites

To intro last year’s inaugural Endpoints News feature on LGBTQ+ leaders in biopharma, I wrote about the movement and progress being made for this community.

I feel I might have jinxed it in some ways. Anti-LGBTQ+ bills are running rampant through the US, children can no longer read gay books in some regions and this community still feels misunderstood by the pharma world.

Being LGBTQ+ is just one part of a person’s identity, but a critical one that often is not visible to outsiders, as some people on this year’s list point out. Others worry the recent onslaught of anti-gay rhetoric in some corners will force LGBTQ+ people to no longer feel comfortable speaking out or being open about who they are in the workplace.

“The rate at which the progress is accelerating is not as high,” says scientist-turned-investor Mira Chaurushiya. “Maybe that’s to some extent reflective of progress we’ve made as a community, but I think there’s still a ways to go.”

This year’s honorees do speak out, whether that’s in the halls of their biotechs, on visits to pharmaceutical sites outside the US, in boardroom discussions, on the manufacturing floor, in clinical research and in bringing a new drug to market.

As with lists like these, we weren’t able to highlight everyone who was nominated, but I hope we have been able to paint a broad look at who makes up the LGBTQ+ community in the biopharma industry.

If you’re reading this while at Endpoints’ first day of BIO panels at the Seaport Hotel, then be sure to tune in again for day 2, when I will virtually moderate a discussion with some of this year’s honorees about LGBTQ+ issues.

THE ENDPOINTS LGBTQ LEADERS IN BIOPHARMA, 2023

Edith Perez — Bolt Biotherapeutics chief medical officer

Eliav Barr — Merck CMO

Tia Lyles-Williams — Goffman Bougard CEO and founder

Alaina Kupec — Gilead senior director of portfolio strategy & analytics

Joan Lau — Spirovant CEO

Ramsey Johnson — OUTbio founder

Susan Whitehead — PACT Pharma president and COO

Paul Hastings — Nkarta CEO and BIO chair

Celia Sandhya Daniels — Rebekon Consulting CEO and founder

Martin Chavez — Recursion chair

Jayson Johnson — Genentech diversity & inclusion

Mira Chaurushiya — Westlake Village BioPartners managing director

Greg Vladimer — Exscientia VP

Peng Leong — BioAge chief business officer

Joshua Cohen — Braeburn medical chief

Amit Rakhit — Flare Therapeutics CEO

Coy Stout — Brii Biosciences SVP

Allene Diaz — Ionis and Mersana director

Jon Newton — ICON VP

John Davis — Sonoma Biotherapeutics interim CMO

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