Iona Everson from PMGroup spoke to Ioana Parsons, general manager of Ipsen UK and Ireland, about her career path and her experiences working in pharma

PME: What was your professional journey to your current position?
Ioana Parsons (IP): My career is a story of two halves. The first was in consulting, initially in Romania and then in London. I worked with clients around the world, but mainly in Europe. In 2016, I moved into industry on the client side and worked for a big US biotech, originally in London, then in Switzerland and later in Italy. It was more of a transition role from consulting to industry. It was called head of strategic planning and it covered all of Europe, as well as all product and therapeutic areas.

My aspiration had always been to try my hand at P&L and when I got the opportunity I was sent on a talent rotation for a year in Rome, which was a brilliant place to be. I was a sales manager working in oncology and I split my time between Rome and Palermo. After a year in the field, I was promoted to lead the business unit of oncology and haematology across Italy.

Almost three years ago, I moved to Poland with Ipsen. The opportunity to be a general manager came up and, after a short stint in the global team for my previous company, I thought I was better suited in-country, so we moved to Warsaw and I ran the Polish affiliate and the team there. Ipsen also gave me the opportunity to do a couple of above-country projects, which really helped me understand the company better. During the summer, I had a global assignment where I did four months of interning in a global asset lead role for one of our oncology products. This was a different environment and came with a different set of challenges, but it was very interesting. Then, just before the end of the year, we had another international project on cross-border flows, which involved collaborating with other countries and global colleagues.

I’ve enjoyed both consulting and industry. I think I still bring that curiosity to industry and I’ve liked the above- and in-market part of pharma.

PME: How do you feel the work that you did on the consultancy side has benefited you in your current role?
IP: I used to say that consulting is the best school after business school. It gives you variety and a fast pace. I’m not a scientist by background, but I quickly gravitated towards pharma as London was a big hub at McKinsey for the pharma and medical products practice. Consulting gives you that skill set, the bigger picture and the strategic approach. It helps you structure your thinking, even if you’re not naturally the most structured person and it gives you analytical rigour. That has really benefited me as a professional.

‘Take mindful risks – you can’t stay in your comfort zone if you want to keep learning and making a difference’

In my current and most recent roles, the biggest lesson has been that you don’t do transformation projects to people, you do them with people. As a consultant, you have a finite amount of time and you’re always left wondering what happened and why things weren’t fully implemented. Being in industry has more continuity, and building with and through people has even more tangible value because you’re there and can reap the benefits if a good decision has been made. If it hasn’t, you can learn from it. It’s a very complementary skill set.

PME: It sounds like everything that you’ve done has brought you to where you are at the moment.
IP: I think it’s important to be open-minded and remember nothing is fixed. It’s about learning something from everything. I sort of happened into pharma. I really liked the idea of doing something for patients and I still do. It gets me fired up in the morning and makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself. I’ve worked with clients who are active in everything from respiratory and cardio to oncology and haematology.

Ipsen is a mid-sized company focussing on three main areas: oncology, neurology and rare diseases, where there is unmet need and the commitment to make a difference for patients suffering from these conditions is very strong across the board.

PME: Figures show that women account for just 25% of leadership roles in pharmaceutical companies. What is the importance of female leadership within the industry?
IP: It’s hugely important to have female leadership everywhere, not just in the life sciences industry. I do believe that pharma is in a good place. Globally at Ipsen, over 60% of the workforce is made of up women, and it’s about the same in the UK and Ireland. I also think that pharma is in a good place compared to other industries when we look at the senior leadership level. Ipsen’s global leadership team, which is our top 150, is currently above parity after reaching our 50/50 goal in 2023. There is research showing that diversity correlates with better financial performance, more innovation and increased engagement.

We talk about our culture of collaboration and excellence, and it’s very hard to imagine that without gender diversity being at the forefront. We also believe in different kinds of diversity, such as background, race and sexual orientation. There are all sorts of diversity angles that contribute to a company and the results it can achieve.

PME: How would you say that female representation in the pharmaceutical industry has changed over the course of your career? And how has this varied in the different countries you’ve been based in?

IP: From my personal experience, I think there has always been more female representation in pharma than in other industries. More than 15 years ago, when I was a consultant, there was a report called Women Matter, which tried to benchmark the average number of hours that women spend on domestic tasks in the household compared to men. Italy, Spain and Poland had the highest difference, with women spending more than twice as long as men on these tasks, while the difference in Sweden and Norway was lower because men share more of the workload.

When I was in Italy, there were fewer women, especially in the leadership team. This was because it’s a more traditional society, and possibly women are at home more. I had a culture shock in Switzerland when I was on-boarded at my company. It was written somewhere that women should ensure that they save for a pension because their husband’s doesn’t count as one. I found that insulting, especially as my family was moving with me to enable me to take advantage of different opportunities. I don’t know where Switzerland stacks up in terms of stats and percentages, but my experience has been that it can be more traditional in some ways.

‘There is research showing that diversity correlates with better financial performance, more innovation and increased engagement’

In Eastern Europe, in Romania and Poland, it’s quite natural to have women working at a certain level, although possibly not at the highest levels. There can be expectations from society. If you are a woman and you are in the highest spot, you may need to travel and have late nights, but if your family always expects you to be available and read bedtime stories then that might not work. I love reading to my children, it’s more that there’s an expectation from society that women will be available and prioritise something other than work.

PME: What are your thoughts on the progress that is being made on equality for women in the workplace?
IP: There has been progress, but of course, there is always more to be done. At the end of last year, I attended a course on female leadership and one of the main themes was that women are over-mentored and under-sponsored, which is a historical issue. People will give advice, especially if women want to make a contribution outside the home, but sometimes the sponsorship part, which men might be better at requesting, is not as prevalent with women.

PME: As a woman in the industry, what were some of the obstacles that you’ve encountered as you progressed in your leadership roles?
IP: Everyone’s experience is different. I remember maternity leave being an inflection point. I was still a consultant, which comes with career progression and expectations. I had a very different experience between my first and second maternity leave. After my first, I wanted to come back quickly, rebuild and get back on the treadmill. Whereas, after my second, I wanted to take that time and enjoy the moment. I have many friends who have had this experience. It’s not a career accelerator, but I don’t think it’s been a big obstacle.

One thing that we haven’t mentioned is biology. Consultancy is very meritocratic – you’re not identical but you are equal. I felt I was always considered for projects and evaluations based on my contribution.

I like to believe it’s also about your mindset. I never expected to have a handicap because I am a woman. I know I bring specific things to the table. Maybe I’m more empathetic, collaborative or intuitive. I also know there are things that I do not bring because of who I am as a person. Maybe I sometimes like things to happen quickly and I’m impatient, but those are specific to me. In our developed societies, I feel there has been a lot of progress and I’d be disingenuous to say that there were many obstacles to my career because I’m a woman.

PME: What are some of your biggest career highlights?
IP: There are many to mention and I think we all have the perfect project where we feel we’ve made an amazing contribution and managed to make a difference. My first project in pharma was more than 15 years ago. I worked with the client to grow the company’s presence in a specific country. We looked at products the company could launch that the country didn’t have and we found a niche for ampoules for children. We looked at a few patient numbers, then we convinced the group to allow us to launch there. I felt that these children would be able to breathe more easily and therefore have a better quality of life, and that I had made a difference.

I use those ampoules for my little one, who has some allergies and very mild asthma. It’s an older product, but you feel like you’re part of something and that you’ve made something happen.

Last year at Ipsen Poland, we were able to bring three new indications to Polish patients. Delays in patient access is always a challenge in our industry, so the fact that the team was able to prepare all the documentation and explain the value of this product to all the stakeholders makes you feel that you’ve made a positive difference to society. This is my raison d’etre and why I wake up in the morning.

In the UK, I know there are many exciting projects for patients that we are working on and discussing with stakeholders, and I’m hoping I can help contribute and guide the teams.

PME: How do you see Ipsen changing and adapting over the next five years?
IP: I think Ipsen is in a very exciting place that has been transforming quite a bit over the past few years. Our new CEO joined in 2020, and I think the focus on oncology and rare diseases has been clearly articulated under his tenure. In 2022, Ipsen completed divestment of its consumer healthcare business and, from 2023 onwards, the focus has been on specialty care.

The other thing to note is that Ipsen is an external innovation-driven company, so there are a lot of partnerships and discussions to source this. Of course, we have our global R&D hubs and our scientists, but many of the products and molecules we end up working on are partnered/licensed from external partners.

‘Making a positive difference to society is my raison d’etre and why I wake up in the morning’

There’s been a lot of energy around all the areas and I think the one that’s been more visible in the news recently is rare diseases. We acquired a company called Albireo a year ago, which gave us access to a whole platform of rare liver diseases with some exciting potential. Rare diseases is probably the area where investors would see the most growth and focus from Ipsen. That being said, oncology remains the bigger part of our business and there’s always a focus there.

PME: What advice would you give to women who are just starting out in their careers in pharma?
IP: That’s a tough question! I feel privileged to work in pharma without being a scientist and to work with people who want something bigger than themselves. I would say follow your passion. If you want to be in this industry, really bring your whole self to work and take mindful risks. You can’t stay in your comfort zone if you want to keep learning and making a difference. Just have fun.

Iona Everson is Group Managing Editor and Emily Kimber is Deputy Editor, both at PMGroup