The balancing act of biotherapy: Be The Match BioTherapies’ Abby Waters on agility and beyond

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Professionals in the biotherapy world are engaged in a sort of balancing act, juggling the nuances of product development, complex science, leadership dynamics, and patient-centricity. In a recent interview, Abby Waters, Ph.D., senior manager of solution owners at Be The Match BioTherapies, opens up about her decade-long journey navigating these multifaceted challenges. From embracing agile methodologies to driving data-informed decisions, Waters shares insights on leading teams, prioritizing patients, and envisioning the future in this quickly evolving field.

In the interview — part of our Women in Pharma and Biotech series, Waters provided insights on an array of subjects, from adopting the IT-based agile framework to cell-and-gene therapy to the art of hiring and weighing hard and soft skills in the biotherapy domain. She also provided advice on approaching data-driven decisions, and offered per…

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  • September 27, 2023
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Embedding patient perspectives: Keri Yale’s impact as a change agent at Boehringer Ingelheim

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When Keri Yale, the company’s head of patient affairs and engagement at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), joined more than 25 years ago, she recognized a need to put patients at the center of the pharmaceutical industry. Since then, she has spearheaded a transformation towards greater patient centricity at the company that started with HIV/AIDS community engagement and expanded across the organization.

Earlier experiences with HIV/AIDS activists in the 1990s taught Yale highlighted the importance of ethically sharing patient stories and building trust. At that time, HIV/AIDS activists pushed the FDA to hold patient-focused drug development meetings, demonstrating the power of organized patient voices in engaging regulators. Overall, the experience helped underscore the importance of patient engagement in drug development, helping inspire her to embed those learnings in BI’s culture.  Read more

  • September 11, 2023
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