Attendance at the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s annual photo of women leaders and allies in Union Square doubled this year. There’s still more work to do.
As many as 1,000 pink-clad women and allies met in Union Square on the second day of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference for what has become a joyous tradition organized by the Biotech CEO Sisterhood.
This was the second year of the photo, and AI estimates suggest this year’s turnout may have doubled from 2025 with 800 to 1,000 people. All of them gathered to support women’s leadership in biopharma and encourage the next generation of female executives.
Later, the Biotech CEO Sisterhood met for a reception where Cosmopolitans were served and pink pantsuits were the fashion statement of choice. It was a celebration of all the executives who are pushing boundaries in this industry. Since its inception in 2022, the group has grown to about 350 members, while other organizations have sprung up to support different C-suite roles, including CMO, CFO, CLO, CSO, CHRO and COBO.
The record turnout for the photo in San Francisco followed a year where women led the major headline M&A deals in biopharma. Intra-Cellular CEO Sharon Mates guided her company through the biggest acquisition of 2025, Johnson & Johnson’s $14.6 billion buy. Similarly, Avidity CEO Sarah Boyce navigated a tough back and forth to sell the neuromuscular biotech to Novartis for $12 billion. There were many more.
The industry lost a leading woman CEO in Emma Walmsley as she departed GSK, but Julie Price will take over at Takeda later this year.
And Price could be joined by more, as Mates, Boyce and the other women who exited in 2025 recycle back into the industry. For that matter, what’s Walmsley’s next gig? She hasn’t said, but she will continue consulting for GSK throughout the year for now.
Another way Walmsley changed the industry was through her fashion. She always appeared for earnings presentations in bright colors, breathing light into an industry traditionally filled with men in dark suits. Often she wore the vibrant orange of GSK, but sometimes pink too, fitting right in with the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s “On Tuesdays We Wear Pink” campaign.
Indeed, around San Francisco last Tuesday, pink was the color du jour. But this reporter still found herself alone, wearing a hot pink blazer, in an elevator full of navy, grey and black suited men on more than one occasion.
We still have more to do.
Scenes from Union Square, where women and allies—including former FDA regulator Richard Pazdur—gathered on January 13 to celebrate women leaders in biopharma. The event was hosted by the Biotech CEO Sisterhood. Video by Annalee Armstrong/BioSpace
