In this episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, our news editor Richard Staines talks to Richard Francis, who took over as CEO of gene therapy company Purespring Therapeutics earlier this month.

Francis was previously CEO of Sandoz, Novartis’ generics and biosimilars division, where he led the development of biosimilars and also sat on the Swiss pharma company’s executive committee.

The theme for episode 28 of the pharmaphorum podcast is diversity and inclusion in pharma, ably addressed by AstraZeneca’s Rebekah Martin.

Serving as senior vice president of reward and inclusion at AstraZeneca, Rebekah discussed how the pharmaceutical industry approaches the promotion of diversity.

In an episode that was recorded in December 2020, she also talked about what inclusion and diversity mean to her company.

Episode two of the Alderley Park Discovery Podcast covers access to skills in the life sciences sector, with a focus on support for aspiring scientists and UK staffing trends.

In this instalment Dominic Tyer’s guests on the podcast are Sai Life Sciences’ head of global R&D Dean Edney, Joynes & Hunt’s managing director Steve Joynes and Dr Kath Mackay, managing director at Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park.

In episode 27 of the pharmaphorum podcast I’m joined by Erin McEachren, who’s EU Regional Vice President at J&J Surgical Vision.

She talks about her priorities at J&J, having joined the company six months ago, the current state of the medical devices sector and some of the trends she’s keeping a close eye on.

In episode 26 the pharmaphorum podcast hears from David Solomon, a 30-year life sciences industry veteran who recently took up the position of CEO at the Paris-based biopharmaceutical company Pharnext.

GlaxoSmithKline’s Nucala (mepolizumab) last month became the first and only biologic treatment approved in the US for Hypereosinophilic Syndrome (HES).

It’s part of the company’s focus on eosinophil-driven diseases and ahead of that regulatory milestone I spoke with Tiffany Robinson-Smith, who’s global medical affairs lead for biologics at GSK, about eosinophils and why they’re an important element of her company’s research programmes.

In this episode of the podcast Gitte discusses telemedicine, GN Hearing’s work in this area – and the impact of COVID-19, plus her time at LEO Pharma.

The Alderley Park Discovery Podcast, produced in partnership with pharmaphorum, presents perspectives on UK and global bioscience innovation trends, with input from key experts including managing director and leader of Bruntwood SciTech’s Alderley Park Dr Kath Mackay.

Anlnylam’s Brendan Martin joined the pharmaphorum podcast for episode 23 to talk about his company’s work in gene-silencing and how it could offer a route to target the current coronavirus pandemic.