Ask any Specialty Pharma leader what they want in their next executive hire and you’ll hear familiar themes: “fresh thinking,” “diverse perspectives,” “ability to challenge the status quo.” Then the search progresses, and a strong candidate gets rejected with a vague line: “They’re great, but I’m not sure they’re a culture fit.” In many organizations, that is where diverse, high‑potential leaders—especially those who don’t look, talk, or network like the current C‑suite—qui

On 23rd July, I’m officially launching Sharon Shields Consulting — a specialist consultancy focused on executive research, market mapping and talent intelligence for life sciences organisations across the UK, Europe and the US. I also partner with executive search consultancies who need deep, reliable research support for complex senior mandates.

Choosing where to set up in Europe is just the beginning. The real challenge — and the real competitive advantage — lies in finding, attracting, and retaining the right people in markets where the best talent has choices

For generations, treating cancer has relied on a pretty brutal calculus: hit the body hard and hope the cancer dies first. Traditional chemotherapy is essentially a scorched-earth strategy. It works, but at a massive cost—wrecking the heart, gut, and nervous system along with the tumour. . For decades, researchers have chased a deceptively simple question: What if we could send the drug only where it’s actually needed? Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are the most promising