What I learned in my three years as CEO

Back in 2018, I was in the midst of my energizing and nerve-wracking first days in this role. I remember standing with my wife and youngest son in my arms after my first town hall as CEO, waving to a packed auditorium and feeling a sense of wonder about what was next. I couldn’t have imagined that just a few years later our auditoriums would be empty, our offices would go quiet, and we’d be facing a pandemic that would devastate the world and nearly halt the global economy, general health visits, and our lives.  

As I reflect on this past year, armed with lessons that are more durable, I wanted to share some of my learnings.  

Today’s failures are tomorrow’s miracles  

For decades in the world of medicine, we’ve been trying to harness the power of RNA—yet there were major scientific challenges to overcome. I remember working on RNA vaccines over 12 years ago without much success. Novartis invested in RNA therapeutics for decades with little to show for it. RNA was difficult to produce, difficult to deliver to certain organs, and difficult to make specific. The field struggled for a very long time.  

But something remarkable has happened in the last few years. Scientists began to unravel the mystery, and companies and academics developed better technology. We figured out how to make RNA drugs more specific, and in 2018, the first RNA-specific drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a rare disease. Today, we’ve harnessed the power of RNA to create revolutionary vaccines for COVID-19.  

Decades of failure and incremental progress led the scientific community to harness the power of RNA precisely at this moment, when the world so desperately needs it. It’s a powerful reminder of not just the power of science, but also that resilience and optimism through failure are required to reimagine medicine.   

The power of showing our humanity  

Companies invest in many things to grow—innovation, infrastructure, tech, acquisitions—but I’ve always believed that our most important investment is in our people. That’s why we’ve been focused on our culture journey, one of the key elements enabling Novartis to weather the crisis. 

Early on in the pandemic, I recorded an internal video at home with my son sharing company updates and resources regarding health, safety, and our pandemic response contributions. We were in his bedroom—which doubles as my home office—and the positive reaction across Novartis was remarkable. I underestimated the power of openly showing that I was in the same situation as everyone else—finding a space to set up a home office, sharing work space with family, creating new routines.  

Moments like that continued to happen occasionally, on my side of the screen and on the other. Sometimes I’d pause meetings to help my sons with a homework question. It was one additional symbol that we were all in this new reality together, doing our best and figuring things out as we went.  

An industry driven by purpose  

This year the world witnessed the largest and fastest mobilization of global scientific capabilities against a public health crisis. When the world needed us most, the biopharmaceutical industry came together with governments and academia around a common purpose—to end the crisis and improve the health of the world.  

I co-chaired the industry consortium that came together to combat COVID-19, and across the industry we’ve shared our compound libraries, we’ve pooled our R&D capacity, and we’ve combined our manufacturing capacity. I’m proud to be partnering with Albert Bourla and U?ur ?ahin as Novartis is helping co-manufacture their companies’ mRNA vaccine, among others, to boost global supply. As I shared at the G7 recently—there is much work ahead to end COVID-19 and increase preparedness for the next pandemic, so we must stay the course and continue collaborating across sectors to secure a healthier future.  

Think boldly, stay resilient 

Ever since I was a student, my personal purpose has been to inspire a healthier world. I never imagined I’d end up working at it from this seat, leading a global team of over 100,000 passionate people working to improve life on our planet. As a species, we’ve seen remarkable gains in life expectancy and quality over the past 100 years due to science and modern medicine, and we’ll only advance those gains with bold, unbounded thinking.  

But here’s the thing about charting new frontiers—it’s never without new challenges. Criticism and failure are practically inherent. As a leader, you have to navigate your own moments of doubt too. In those moments, I try to return to my sense of purpose. Novartis exists to reimagine medicine in ways that will impact generations. Pushing the boundaries of human understanding and doing things that have never been done before require resilience, and what will matter most in the long run are the transformational successes that change life as we know it. 

As I continue on year four of this journey, I do so with a renewed passion to improve human health, with a deep sense of gratitude for all Novartis associates and those helping end this pandemic, and as confident as ever that our best days are ahead of us.