At Sanofi Canada, 'diversity' rhymes with 'empowerment'
Company GM Stephanie Veyrun-Manetti discusses the importance of DEI in Canada, Sanofi’s Biogenius grants, and career development across all generations of employees (1,034 words, 5 minutes)
In a country as diverse as Canada, having robust diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) policies seems essential for any company. For Stephanie Veyrun-Manetti, diversity extends beyond ethnicity to encompass other factors. She emphasizes redefining and enhancing diversity policies, aligning with global and local goals. She notes it’s essential to be intentional and specific about the impact the company wants to create. “We need to be very precise on what we want to achieve,” says the General Manager of Specialty Care and Country Lead for Canada at Sanofi during an episode of the NPC Podcast.
Veyrun-Manetti [pictured below] says this approach is crucial in clinical trials, where reflecting diverse populations ensures effective drug outcomes. “We need to reflect the diverse populations in these trials to ensure the drugs we bring to market are truly effective,” she says. We’ve made progress, but there’s still much to learn. We still need to ensure that the clinical trials reflect a more inclusive design population.”
Veyrun-Manetti is proud of the Sanofi Biogenius Canada grant, a national, biotechnology-focused science competition for Canadian high school and CEGEP students. “Our objective is simple: to allow more high school students to embrace and discover [STEM],” she said. “Since launching this grant program in 2021, we’ve witnessed a substantial impact. It has improved scientific learning environments for students across the country.” This initiative supports the Canadian pharma industry by nurturing a new generation of young scientists and researchers interested in biotechnology and life sciences. By enhancing STEM education early, the program helps cultivate future talent for the pharmaceutical industry, fostering innovation and contributing to the industry’s long-term sustainability.
Veyrun-Manetti says she believes in creating an inclusive workplace with equal leadership opportunities regardless of age or background. “Whether it’s Gen Z, Millennials, or any other group, we aim to provide opportunities for all,” she emphasizes. “The focus is on giving employees autonomy and empowerment for their career growth.” She says Sanofi pursues inclusivity to nurture a diverse talent pool. She says this approach enriches innovation and problem-solving capabilities across the company, fostering higher job satisfaction and productivity. She adds that by ensuring equal leadership pathways, the company cultivates a pipeline of leaders who bring diverse perspectives.
She stresses the importance of prioritizing a culture that values diverse ideas over strict generational divides. Veyrun-Manetti believes it is imessentialo foster stronger team cohesion and creativity. In her view, employees feel empowered to contribute their best work in an environment that respects individual needs and encourages collaboration across different age groups and backgrounds, driving sustainable growth, productivity and innovation. “It is essential to find the right balance of encouraging collaboration and coming to the workplace while also giving flexibility to all employees,” she says.
THIS WEEK 07/02/24
The U.S. FDA approved Verona Pharma’s ensifentrine (Ohtuvayre) for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adult patients.
The U.S. FDA approved crovalimab-akkz (PiaSky) for treating patients 13 years and older with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and a body weight of at least 40 kg.
Health Canada authorized Eli Lilly’s lebrikizumab (Ebglyss) to treat moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis patients 12 years and older with a body weight of at least 40 kg.
Takeda Canada announced Health Canada has expanded the marketing authorization for the company’s normal immunoglobulin [human] 10% and recombinant human hyaluronidase solution for subcutaneous infusion (HyQvia) as a replacement therapy for primary humoral immunodeficiency and secondary humoral immunodeficiency in pediatric patients two years of age and older.
NOW LISTEN UP
In season 12 of the NPC Podcast, Brian Bloom, CEO of Bloom Burton & Co., gives insights into changes in the Canadian Healthcare investment landscape, the return of the generalist investor, and the rise of consumer empowerment in healthcare. Hear him in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea, and Mark McElwain.
HEALTHBIZ REWIND
This feature of NPC Healthbiz Weekly looks back at some of the most insightful moments from previous NPC Podcast episodes. In Healthbiz Rewind, you’ll read bold life sci predictions made during the renowned “Prognostication Korner” segment of the NPC Podcast.
Marie E. Lamont
VP Global Head
IQVIA
Season 02, episode 03
Listen to this episode here
What impact has Covid-19 had on clinical trials? (This episode was recorded in September of 2020 when Lamont was President of Inteliquet)
The effect is that patients aren’t going into cancer centres unless they are acute patients. Most cancer centres have been trying to avoid having the most immunocompromised patients come in. You don’t want to bring patients in unless you have to, but that also means that for clinical trials, patients aren’t coming in. They’re not coming in for diagnosis. They’re not coming in for visits. For biopharma, that means there aren’t patients to potentially be cleared for trials. Early on [the pandemic], biopharma started stopping, delaying or holding the start of new trials. That meant their [patients] options began to go away. There was also a clinical supply challenge due to Covid-19. Some workers could not get to work and adjust the clinical supply. They couldn’t get to centres, and patients weren’t coming into centres, so they weren’t getting the clinical drug. About 65 to 80 biopharma companies paused or stopped new trials, and we saw that effect in patients.
When you think about cancer centres, there’s an impact there. Fewer patients are coming in. A couple of broad-based cancer associations applied algorithms to prioritize the patients they would see and those they should hold off on. Several articles discussed some of those algorithms, but there’s a downstream effect: some patients aren’t getting diagnostics. So if you have cancer, and you want targeted therapeutics, biopsies, blood draws or molecular results, these aren’t being provided because the diagnostics aren’t happening. So, it’s a downstream whirl effect. What’s happening with their cancer journey if patients aren't coming in? And cancer is one of those disease areas you can’t put on pause. It moves ahead without our intervention. I think there’s a concern about a backlog of incredibly needy patients who need care. Cancer centres are trying to figure out how to address that.
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