The 10 Top Paid Women Executives in Biopharma

Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Total Compensation Ballooned Last Year along with Stock Prices

A Nature Biotechnology editorial in August offered some sobering statistics about the presence of women in biopharma. While women account for about half the industry workforce, no company among the top 40 pharmas in North America and Europe had a majority of women within their senior management teams. At the top 10 highest-valued biotechs, women occupied only 20 of 112 senior management positions (17.9%), slightly more than the 58 out of 370 positions held in big pharmas (15.7%).

Not addressed by the editorial, yet no less challenging an issue, is the relatively lower pay of the top paid women in biopharma compared with their male counterparts. Yet this year’s GEN List of 10 Top Paid Women Executives in Biopharma shows one sign of progress compared with GEN’s previous lists last year and in 2013.

This time around, four women commanded salaries of $10 million or more, compared with just a single eight-figure executive on the 2014 List (Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A., chairman and co-CEO of United Therapeutics) and none two years ago. The lowest-paid of the top-10 women this year made about double the $3,293,458 racked up by #10 on last year’s list.

As with other top executives across the industry, the top-paid women reaped the rewards of the Wall Street surge that—until recently—sent stock prices, followed by company valuations and pay packages—racing to new heights.

Following is this year’s ranking of top women executives at public biopharma companies by their total 2014 compensation, as disclosed in company proxy statements. Each executive is listed by name, title, company, 2014 and 2013 total compensation, and percent change between the two years. All non-U.S. currencies have been converted to U.S. dollars.

#10. Robin L. Washington

EVP and CFO, Gilead Sciences

2014 total compensation: $6,223,492

2013 total compensation: $3,941,728

% Change: 57.9%

#9. Sandra Peterson

Group Worldwide Chairman, Johnson & Johnson

2014 total compensation: $7,086,606

2013 total compensation: $5,637,261

% Change: 25.7%

#8. Adriana Karaboutis

EVP, Technology and Business Solutions, Biogen

2014 total compensation: $7,746,857¹

2013 total compensation: N/A¹

#7. Sandra Leung

General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bristol-Myers Squibb

2014 total compensation: $8,054,805

2013 total compensation: $4,816,287

% Change: 67.2%

#6. Jacqualyn A. Fouse, Ph.D.

President, Global Hematology and Oncology, Celgene²

2014 total compensation: $8,671,488²

2013 total compensation: $7,795,941

% Change: 11.2%

#5. Laura J. Schumacher

EVP, Business Development, External Affairs, and General Counsel, AbbVie

2014 total compensation: $9,048,005

2013 total compensation: $6,996,298

% Change: 29.3%

#4. Maria Teresa (Tessa) Hilado

CFO, Allergan (formerly Actavis)

2014 total compensation: $10,185,303³

2013 total compensation: N/A³

% Change: N/A

#3. Caroline B. Manogue

EVP and Chief Legal Officer, Endo International

2014 total compensation: $13,835,574⁴

2013 total compensation: $2,839,661

% Change: 387.2%

#2. Heather Bresch

CEO, Mylan

2014 total compensation: $25,822,826⁵

2013 total compensation: $8,707,958

% Change: 196.5%

#1. Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A.

Chairman and Co-CEO, United Therapeutics⁶

2014 total compensation: $33,214,929⁷

2013 total compensation: $38,218,255

% Change: -13.1%

¹ Joined company in September 2014 from Dell Inc., where she was VP and global CIO. Karaboutis’ 2014 total compensation includes one-time time-restricted cash payment of $2 million at the time she commenced employment with the Company to account for forfeiture of certain compensation from prior employer, Biogen said in a regulatory statement
² Dr. Fouse was promoted to current position in August 2014 after serving as EVP and CFO.
³ Hilado joined the company as CFO on December 8, 2014. She was previously SVP, finance and treasurer at PepsiCo.
⁴ Most of that total compensation, $10,994,840, represents the reimbursement of excise taxes related to the gain on the Endo shareholders’ exchange of Endo Health Solutions Inc. (EHSI) common stock for Endo International plc ordinary shares in Endo’s $2.7 billion acquisition of Paladin Labs, completed in February 2014. 
⁵ Includes 1.4 million stock appreciation rights (SARs) valued at $13,202,000 that were granted to Bresch under the One-Time Special Performance-Based Incentive Program. Mylan said in a regulatory filing that the value of the SARs for her and other “named executive officers” (NEOs) was “linked to both achievement of our long-term performance goals and increases in our stock price,” and contingent on the NEOs’ continued employment with the company through 2018, “subject to eligibility for vesting in the event of a change in control.”
⁶ Effective January 1, 2015, Dr. Rothblatt’s title was changed from chairman and CEO
⁷ Nearly 89% of Dr. Rothblatt’s total compensation in 2014, $29,460,128, reflected stock options and Share Tracking Awards Plan awards, the highest percentage of any CEO on the list.