VisioDoc #1 : Claude BERTRAND, VP R&D de SERVIER nous partage ses conseils pour les PhD.

Despite disappointing my thesis director, I chose the pharmaceutical industry over INSERM. Soft skills are 50-70% of what matters. When I review a CV, I meet candidates to assess fit with the team.

Thank you, Assia. I'm EVP of R&D at Servier, here for six years. I studied pharmacy at Strasbourg, did a postdoc at UCSF, then joined Novartis. I wanted applied research to make drugs. I was headhunted by Roche to start a lab in California, then returned to Europe to keep my kids from becoming American. I worked at Pfizer and AstraZeneca in the UK, then Ipsen in France. I joined Servier because it's foundation-owned. I came from a non-privileged background, funded by scholarships. I had to fight and take risks.

I have one of the best jobs in the world. At Servier, 2,200 people in R&D share that passion. France has excellent education, but the pharma industry is a desert compared to the past. The problem is lack of investment, both public and private. Health is not considered a strategic sector like nuclear or defense. We need to double public research funding to match Germany. There's too much bashing of pharma. Drug development costs 2-10 billion, which explains prices. We need more investment and to make health a strategic priority.

I don't oppose the two worlds; they are complementary. The key question is what you want: deep long-term research or applied impact. I chose industry to make drugs and impact patients directly. The choice should not be based on money; passion is key. In academia, you have more freedom but constant grant chasing. In industry, less freedom but more resources. We need to better fund public research to reduce the salary gap.

Go as far as possible in your studies. I never planned my career; I was driven by passion for science and drug discovery. Management skills are not taught; many scientists are poor managers. Take risks; if you want security, go to Inserm. In industry, you need to deliver. Drug development takes 15 years; I dream of reducing it to 8-10 years for rare pediatric diseases. Servier is a foundation, so our mission is to deliver therapeutic progress for patients.

To be a good scientist, publish in good journals. But 50-70% is about soft skills. When I interview, I assess fit with the team. I've become more HR and psychologist than scientist. Soft skills are essential for being a good manager. Many people with great diplomas fail because they lack them.

I can't do anything alone. My job is to get 2,200 people excited to go. It's like Steve Jobs and his iPhone. For young people, you need to push your hard skills as far as possible, then choose a job that aligns with your passion and the company's DNA. I'll stop there because I'll give you a quick spin on Servier. In France, it's not always easy, but this is my sixth company and I've never experienced anything like this. It's the beauty of a foundation. You need to focus on that, and then reveal yourself through contact with people in the company. There's some unknown and risk, but you have to be ready to change. I changed a lot in the early years. Don't be afraid to change, start with the first step. Push as high as possible, then you become bankable and people will come to you. I never had to look for a job after the first one; I was always headhunted.

I have 2,200 people in my department. If I started having everyone email me, I'd explode. There are dedicated HR correspondents for R&D. What accelerates things is knowing exactly the profile. If you take the wrong door, your application can fall into oblivion. I don't have a miracle recipe. Look at the organization chart on our website. There's the research director Christophe Turio and others you can access relatively directly. Networks are very important. Don't hesitate to double a job application with a contact. Use social networks, especially LinkedIn. Go for it. Also, the first thing that changed my life was going abroad. Whether during your thesis, postdoc, or first job, if you have the opportunity, move. I never would have had the career I did without a postdoc in the US. It opened my mind. I was the first from my lab in Strasbourg to go to the US, with no support from my thesis director. It changed everything. I see the difference in people who come from abroad. At Servier, we now have labs in the US, so we can offer positions there. It's a huge point. It's hard to grow if you stay in your comfort zone. Taking that risk, going into the void without support, is beyond what you can imagine, but when you do it, you come out a different person. So if you have the opportunity, go for it.

Today we are a French company, but I think 80% of our meetings are in English. When I arrived five years ago, it wasn't the case. I could give you a whole talk on the place of women, non-French people, diversity, inclusion. It's a subject I'm passionate about; I'm the Comex sponsor at Servier and we've launched initiatives. It's not because it's trendy; I fundamentally believe that diversity brings innovation. The more you mix cultures and people, the more innovation you get. If you put 2,000 French people in a French lab, you'll have much less innovation than if you mix. That's why the Saclay campus will be great. It's what I experienced in San Francisco and Boston: in the lab there were two Americans for eight foreigners. The Americans did that long ago, and it creates hubs at the coffee machine where a chemist meets a biologist and they realize they can solve a problem together. That cross-pollination creates breakthrough innovations.

Thank you for your questions. The foundation: you need to understand the cash flows. We live only from the money generated by selling our medicines. That money comes back into the company for operations, improvements, building a new R&D center on the Saclay plateau for 400 million, a new factory in Normandy for 100 million, and then funding R&D. This year's R&D budget is 800 million euros. The executive committee decides together. The big difference with a public company is that it belongs to shareholders who expect a return on investment. In a foundation, we are self-financed. At Servier, the ultimate beneficiary of our investments is the patient. There is no family; 60% is the Beaufour family and 40% other shareholders, but they want a return. The beauty is that we are masters of our own destiny as long as we maintain the foundation for future generations. We can invest in a disease that affects only three children in France if we think we have the right technology. We do a lot in pediatrics because big companies don't because it's not profitable. We can invest in oligonucleotides as a future modality for 20 years. In a public company, you have three-year cycles; if it doesn't work, you kill it. But in pharma, three years is nothing. So we have the freedom to take long-term risks. Then there are European initiatives like IMI, now IHI, which are consortiums of academics and industrials. Also, small labs with great discoveries sign agreements with us. In France, it's complicated because everyone wants a piece. Inserm, university, CEA... sometimes it takes so long that it's not worth it. Innovation is everywhere; we must not be arrogant to think we have the best ideas. We need to cross paths. When a researcher comes with an idea, I first ask if someone else has already had it. They must come with a complete dossier on what's been done worldwide. If I see a big lab with a good reputation, I say call them to see where they are, because it can save us time.

It depends. In my personal opinion, if you have the means to do a postdoc abroad for two or three years, with support from family or scholarships, and a lab willing to take you, then yes, try it. If you need a job immediately, it can also be found abroad by working your network. I don't know your CV, but send it to me; I can't promise anything, but I can give you advice and maybe a contact. If you have the possibility, a postdoc in industry is better than a postdoc in a mediocre university lab. But if you can be in a top university, that also helps your CV.

I don't check LinkedIn as regularly as my email.

It's hard to comment with so little information. But generally, we need as many generalists as experts. Often when they ask for a specialty, it's in oncology, immunology, etc. But don't stop at that. The first job is about persistence. I don't know how many applications I sent. It requires intense personal investment. At Servier, we are organized in a matrix with therapeutic areas and activity poles. We need many generalists who can work on different projects. So being a generalist is appreciated. Don't limit yourself.

Everything is possible. It shows creativity and entrepreneurship. If you want to join a company and there's a side path that interests you, don't deprive yourself. I have a colleague, Cyril, who manages R&D strategy and transformation. He came from Inserm and did a postdoc at 20. He says if you stay too long in transversal functions like project management, you'll be competing with younger, sharper people after 10 years. There's a cycle to respect. But listening to you all, I'm surprised because from my window, there are plenty of open positions. We have trouble filling some. The global pharma industry is hiring heavily. In France, there are fewer actors, but we are in a rehiring phase. It's interesting to hear your perspective because we can't fill positions while you can't get interviews. Starting this summer, we'll be in hiring mode due to the move to Saclay.

Since it's quite specific, I can direct you to someone. I immediately think of Jean-Manuel Payant, who works in Orléans on all our galenic innovations. For example, we are working on formulations for children and infants, a domain where nothing is done. At a minimum, I can put you in touch with the right person. Based on your CV, I might have other ideas.

Absolutely. What you describe is true but not a problem. We benefit from the research tax credit, which is a major attractiveness factor for large and small companies. Without being political, I think there is a before and after Macron. We can revive the startup nation spirit that existed after WWII when many groups were created. It's phenomenal. We are finding that again. It's a bit unfortunate that it's more tech than pure pharma, but we work with startups like Hawkins, Akemia, etc. It's a common engine. If your sector succeeds, funds will come back to France. The only thing we ask is to stop cutting prices. In France, we sell at a loss. Servier manufactures 96% of its products in France, the only one to do so, and sells 97-98% abroad. But what little we sell in France, prices are cut repeatedly. So our issue is more with social security and the finance law. We need to support our startups and young shoots.