Dr. Tony Coles and Dr. Ted Love have two different perspectives on their identities as Black CEOs leading biotech companies.
"I never wanted to be the Black CEO, because I simply wanted to be a CEO," Coles, the CEO of Cerevel Therapeutics said on Thursday. "I didn't think it was an unreasonable request of myself, of my colleagues, to just remain known for what I can do well and succeed on the basis of the achievements that the team and I could accomplish. But somehow our society didn't afford me that simple luxury.
Coles said the modifier is one he hasn't been able to escape, adding "It's confusing at best and insulting at worst, because I think we should all simply be known as the sum of our achievements." To be sure, he said, being Black has helped him better understand what it's like to be a patient, both in his role as a doctor and as a biotech CEO.Love is the CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics, which has a treatment for sickle cell disease, a blood condition that predominantly impacts the Black community.
That's translated over into the culture of the company, he said, which employs a high number of people of color. at the BIO International Convention on Thursday. They spoke on a panel with BIO CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath and Ovid Therapeutics CEO Dr. Jeremy Levin. McMurry-Heath became the CEO of BIO, the biotech industry's lobbying group on June 1. Prior to joining BIO,as an executive at Johnson & Johnson and was an official at the Food and Drug Administration.
BREAKING WHO says coronavirus situation 'worsening' worldwide COVID19.,