Alexander Hardy, MBA '92 — President and CEO of BioMarin Pharmaceutical
Alexander Hardy, MBA '92, alum and president and CEO of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, joins this episode of the Down to Business podcast to discuss his career path and the biopharmaceutical space. Key topics include creating a culture of innovation, learning from failure, calculated risk taking, the social contract between patients and biotech companies, and advice for effective leadership.
Creating an Innovative Environment
BioMarin is a company that produces eight drugs for rare diseases, six of which are first-in-disease drugs. Yet, in biotech and pharma, failure is a constant reality. Even in the last stage of clinical trials, a stage which sometimes takes twenty years to reach, success rates are 65%.
Hardy discusses how leaders must create work environments where people can speak up and be heard. This is critical in fostering innovation and effectively using company time and resources. Hardy stresses that after identifying a program’s failure, the next steps are learning from it to ensure the next program is successful.
Hardy talks about one portfolio review in which an employee took a brave risk.
“The asset team leader for this particular program, which we’d been working on for about six or seven years, stood up in this meeting, and she said, ‘The team and I actually recommend that this program is stopped. There are more promising ways to spend [people’s] time and effort that are more likely to result in a meaningful advance for patients.’ When you see that [as a leader], you really recognize it. You’re not rewarding failure; you’re rewarding courage.”
Biotech, Pharma, and the Social Contract
Hardy discusses the balance that must be struck between running a successful business and making a real positive impact on patients with rare diseases.
From Hardy’s perspective, people enter the biotech field to make a difference in people’s lives. He has responsibilities to stakeholders, shareholders, and employees, but to lose sight of the primary purpose of delivering to patients in need is to lose sight of the company.
“What is clear to me,” he says, “is that there’s a social contract between biotech and pharma and society. If you’re confident that you’re delivering real innovation and a breakthrough for patients, everything else pretty much takes care of itself. You will have a successful company [and] deliver a lot for shareholders if you’re genuinely innovating for patients on a reproducible and continual basis.”
Closing Words of Advice for Students and Early Career Alumni
Hardy leaves the listeners with advice for their early careers. After stressing the importance of taking on challenges to grow and encouraging the confidence to make lateral moves, he turns his attention to leadership.
“Look at leadership as something you craft over your career,” said Hardy. “Seek feedback, get better and better at it. That will serve you extremely well, and it will be a part of how you make a difference in people’s lives, which is ultimately what this is all about.”
Want to hear more from Ross students, faculty, and alumni?
Check out more of our podcasts.
Business Beyond Usual: Full-time MBA students at Michigan Ross tackle burning issues on campus and the world beyond. In every episode, the student hosts discuss a topic of importance for current and prospective students through interviews with current students, alumni, faculty, and administrators.
Business + Society: Michigan Ross professors discuss the business world and how it impacts our society. Each episode features a panel of featured experts addressing a current issue or problem facing our world.
Working for the Weekend: A deep dive into the daily life of part-time MBAs at Michigan Ross. Weekend and online MBA students discuss their experiences and advice for prospective and current students.
About the participants
- Host: Sharon Matusik
- Guests: Alexander Hardy
- Executive Producer: JT Godfrey
- Audio Engineer: Jonah Brockman
- Editorial Production: Mads Henke
