Cerbios celebrates International Women’s Day 2023

Lugano, Switzerland: – Cerbios-Pharma SA (Cerbios) was a vocal supporter of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD23) on March 8 and its ‘Embrace Equity’ Theme.

Cerbios-Pharma Quality Assurance Director Chiara Gallotti featured in an article published in a special ‘Women in Science’ edition of the online magazine Life Sciences Knowledge Hub to coincide with IWD23 and DCAT Week in New York City.

Titled ‘Women in Science: How fortunate do you feel?’ the article set out to explore female perspectives of what it means to be a woman working in life sciences in the 21st century.

Work-life balance

Ms. Gallotti told the magazine that she considered her greatest accomplishment had been in managing to find a good balance between private and professional life.

“The right balance has allowed me to find great personal satisfaction in both my private and professional life,” said Chiara.

“Being close to everything surrounding the growth of my children has made me organised, determined, helpful and empathetic. These characteristics have also served me well at a professional level. At work, kindness and respect, together with determination, are the right mix to drive a good team and good relationships with colleagues. It seems easy, but in reality it is not so simple, as for everyone.”

Embracing change

Ms. Gallotti, a degree-educated chemist who specialized in synthesis in production and medicinal chemistry, said women in the pharmaceutical industry needed to combine a solid scientific educational background with willingness to embrace change, accept it and work together to move forward.

“It doesn’t matter what your role is in the company, but resistance to any kind of change can become an obstacle for the whole team. Working in the pharmaceutical industry means travelling on a very fast train, so It is important to not only have scientific competence and to be a specialist in a scientific sector, but since the pharma world is continuously growing and evolving, people have to collaborate, work in a team, co-ordinate with others, solve complex problems and manage projects to achieve a common objective,” Chiara reflected.

She said working in pharmaceutical companies had given her understanding of the enormous undertakings involved in drug development and enormous personal and economic efforts made to bring useful products to market.

“The fact of contributing, even in a small way, to the development of a drug that improves someone’s life or relieves their pain motivated me. I know this very well as my brother suffers from a rare disease for which there is no solution and I am personally very committed in new and experimental treatments. Pharmaceutical companies that invest in new drugs are the future for all of us,” she declared.

Women as leaders

When asked whether she had faced any obstacles related to being a woman, she replied: “I think I have always been lucky in the companies I have known. I have always had respect for everyone and I have received it in return. The pharmaceutical world is more innovative than other sectors for women; I know very competent women who hold very important positions and have the full support of the company they work for. However, in my professional career, due to a different culture or for pure sexism, I have not always been fully accepted or have received embarrassing looks, but it happened on very few occasions at specific events.

She added: “Women in leadership positions, not just in pharma, have to demonstrate their talent and competence, perhaps more than men, although women – often having typically feminine sensitivity – make them not only good department heads, but also good leaders. A good leader has a good team made up of human resources not workers. A good leader must know how to trust her collaborators by offering them professional opportunities and always treating both men and women with respect. When you identify someone in a team wants to advance their career, you should recognise and value him or her.”

Posting on IWD on LinkedIn, Cerbios told its followers it was pleased to join the #embraceequity campaign, declaring:

“Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. Attention to gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA. And it’s crucial to understand the difference between equity and equality.”

About Cerbios-Pharma

Cerbios is a privately held company located in Lugano, Switzerland, specialized in manufacturing Pharma Products and in offering CDMO services.

Cerbios is the ideal CDMO partner from clinical to commercial supply of API, HPAPIs, Payloads, ADCs, Proteins and Antibodies. Services offered include Process & Analytical Development, Scale-up and Clinical Supply, Industrial Validation, Commercial Supply, Full CMC Regulatory Support. Proveo™, a division of Cerbios, was recently created to provide end-to-end development and manufacturing services for ADCs.

Cerbios is also a global leading supplier of a portfolio of Generic APIs primarily used in Oncology and for the treatment of Respiratory and Dermatological disorders. Cerbios has additionally a 40 years’ experience in the probiotics field: the portfolio includes a FDF based on proprietary strain SF68® for treatment of diarrhea and dysbiosis by antibiotics and two new Food Supplements for the management of ACNE & Seborrheic dermatitis and to boost immune response.

Learn more at: https://cerbios.swiss

Resources

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