3rd Annual Leaders in Life Sciences Breakfast Roundtable Offers Ideas for Leading Life Sciences Businesses Through a Pandemic

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A panel of eight distinguished leaders in Life Sciences came together for a virtual breakfast roundtable devoted to leading Life Sciences organizations through these unprecedented times. The event was sponsored by Leaders in Life Sciences, led by Timmy Garde, Chief Innovation Leader, LevLane Advertising, Edward Allera, Shareholder, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC, and Thomas Goss, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Boston Healthcare Associates. The theme of the discussion revolved largely around how participants’ Leadership has managed their teams through the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shifts they’ve had to make to adapt to the new landscape.

The event featured executives from all areas of the Life Sciences space including therapeutics, institutional, diagnostics, academics, and policy. Attendees included Al Altomari, Chairman and CEO, Agile Therapeutics; Randy Burkholder, VP, Policy and Research, PhRMA; Natalie Cummins, SVP and Chief Commercial Officer, BioReference Laboratories, Inc, an OPKO Health company.; Paul Katz, President, University of the Sciences;  Dr. Stephen Klasko, President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health; Alexander Mironov, Chief Business Officer, Covis Pharma; Dr. Jennifer Simpson, President and CEO, Sun BioPharma, Inc.; and Todd N. Smith, President and CEO, Assertio Therapeutics, Inc.

“Hearing from top industry leaders covering segments including therapeutics, health systems, diagnostics, academics, and policy in a virtual environment stimulated powerful discussions regarding insights and forward-thinking ideas as we travel through the COVID-19 era,” said Garde.

The event produced ten key insights and takeaways for all leaders in Life Sciences. The group is now working to turn those takeaways into a publicly available playbook.

“Our goal with this group has always been to share our collective knowledge and provide insights to our industry. This discussion produced the perfect opportunity to do so. We felt the insights were so valuable and so beneficial for anyone leading a life sciences organization, that we are pleased to be able to share them with other healthcare executives,” said Goss.

Allera agreed with Goss’s sentiment. “The pandemic has presented Life Sciences organizations with significant and sometimes unforeseen challenges. These leaders are on the front line of the fight against COVID-19, while also trying to shepherd their companies through the storm. The ideas and thoughts shared will be helpful for any leader facing those same challenges.”

The key insights from the roundtable, which will be expounded upon in the forthcoming playbook, were:

  1. COVID-19 accelerated and accentuated the structural weaknesses in the healthcare delivery system.
  2. Telehealth and other technologies focused on people and their overall health will be at the forefront of the revolution.
  3. The impact of the social determinants of health has been exposed and highlighted.
  4. An opportunity exists to adapt or change your brand to be more technical and consumer-oriented.
  5. Capital is extremely important. The ability to adapt to the changing environment is in part related to access to capital. Keep investors you know in close and frequent contact.
  6. Take the time to analyze the industry and competitors from your business perspective to truly gauge competition, inefficiencies, middlemen and more to make sure you are getting the largest slice of the revenue stream possible.
  7. Virtual management has been difficult and created inefficiencies. It takes longer to uncover problems and implement solutions. 
  8. People with children, disproportionately women, have taken on additional responsibility when it comes to providing primary care and educational support, pushing their obligations to the maximum level between work and family life. It is important to allow for boundaries in this virtual environment so that employees do not burn out. It is equally important to allow for personal lives to bleed into the working environment at a reasonable level to show flexibility and understanding for employee needs.
  9. Life Sciences leaders must become more politically active with Washington and individual States to remain competitive and in tune with insurer political activity.
  10. Academia is facing a crisis with decreased enrollment as people are less willing to pay a premium for a virtual learning experience.

The playbook will be available within the next few weeks. You can sign up now to receive a notification when it is available for download by going to https://go.levlane.com/leaders-in-life-sciences.

About Leaders in Life Sciences
Leaders in Life Sciences is a joint partnership of LevLane Advertising, Boston Healthcare, and Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC. The group was formed to bring together thought leaders in the Life Science space to provide insights and solutions to the biggest challenges facing the industry.

To learn more about Leaders in Life Sciences contact Timmy Garde, Chief Innovation Officer, LevLane Advertising at
255442@email4pr.com
.

Media Contact:
Liz Weir, SVP of Content, Social Media, and PR
LevLane Advertising

255442@email4pr.com
 
610-401-4825

SOURCE LevLane