Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

A new industry leader reigns supreme this year.

Since last week’s GEN List of What the Top 20 Biopharma CEOs Are Making was headed by a woman, it stands to reason that she also heads this week’s GEN List, focused on the Top 10 Paid Women Executives.

Yet despite being the first-ever woman to top the CEO list, this year’s top-compensated woman executive is more the exception than the rule. All nine women listed under her received total compensation of less than $10 million—compared to the $11 million and up awarded to last week’s top-20 CEOs, only one of which was a woman. And only the top two-paid women executives on this list were CEOs; the rest held a variety of senior managerial titles that included “VP,” “chair,” and “head” positions.

Of four other women CEOs not paid highly enough for this list, but whose total compensation could still be ranked among the top 30 highest-paid women executives, the highest was NeoStem CEO and Chairman Robin L. Smith, M.D., who received $1,235,500. The other three were paid less than $1 million. A fifth woman CEO was not compensated in 2013 (Michelle Dipp, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of OvaScience).

Following is this year’s list, which ranks top women executives at public biopharma companies by their total 2013 compensation as disclosed in company proxy statements. Each executive is listed by name, title, company, 2013 and 2012 total compensation, and percent change between the two years. All non-U.S. currencies have been converted to U.S. dollars.

#10. Kristin C. Peck

Company: Zoetis

Title: EVP and Group President

2013 total compensation: $3,293,458

2012 total compensation: $2,278,413

% Change: 44.6%

#9. Robin L. Washington

Company: Gilead Sciences

Title: EVP and CFO

2013 total compensation: $3,941,728

2012 total compensation: $4,175,593

% Change: -5.6%

#8. Mahkam (Maky) Zanganeh, D.D.S., M.B.A.

Company: Pharmacyclics

Title: COO

2013 total compensation: $4,711,167

2012 total compensation: $5,798,452

% Change: -18.8%

#7. Sandra Leung

Company: Bristol-Myers Squibb

Title: General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

2013 total compensation: $4,816,287

2012 total compensation: $5,892,772

% Change: -18.3%

#6. Silvia Ayyoubi

Company: Roche

Title: Head Group Human Resources

2013 total compensation: $5,434,448 (CHF 5,095,086)

2012 total compensation: $5,076,326 (CHF 4,759,151)

% Change: 7.1%

#5. Sandra Peterson

Company: Johnson & Johnson

Title: Group Worldwide Chair

2013 total compensation: $5,637,261

2012 total compensation: $4,698,850

% Change: 20.0%

#4. Laura J. Schumacher

Company: AbbVie

Title: EVP, Business Development, External Affairs, and General Counsel

2013 total compensation: $6,996,2981

2012 total compensation: $10,192,7482

% Change: -31.4%

#3. Jacqualyn A. Fouse, Ph.D.

Company: Celgene

Title: EVP and CFO

2013 total compensation: $7,795,941

2012 total compensation: $3,450,103

% Change: 126.0%

#2. Heather Bresch

Company: Mylan

Title: CEO

2013 total compensation: $8,707,958

2012 total compensation: $8,000,628

% Change: 8.8%

#1. Martine Rothblatt, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A.

Company: United Therapeutics

Title: Chairman and CEO

2013 total compensation: $38,218,2553,4

2012 total compensation: $7,958,3284

% Change: 380.2%

Notes:
1 Schumacher’s 2013 compensation reflected $1.93 million less in stock award compensation compared with 2012 ($2,555,732, down from $4,486,690); a decrease in pension value compared with 2012 (to $944,548 from $1,771,306) due to changes in the actuarial assumptions AbbVie used for calculating plan liability for financial reporting purposes, and the impact of the time value of money on the pension value.
2 Schumacher’s 2012 compensation reflected her position as EVP, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Abbott Laboratories, from which AbbVie was spun out on January 2, 2013; as well as a bonus of $1.1 million “paid in recognition of performance related to the business separation,” according to AbbVie’s 2014 proxy statement.
3 94.5% of Dr. Rothblatt’s total compensation in 2013, $36,097,326, reflected stock options—the highest percentage of any CEO on the list. She is eligible to receive an annual award of options to purchase the number of shares of common stock equal to 0.18% of the increase in the company’s market capitalization each year, based on the average closing price of common stock for December.
According to the company’s 2014 Proxy statement: “The increase in our CEO’s compensation between 2012 and 2013 was primarily due the stock option grant our CEO received in 2013 (covering 1,000,000 shares) pursuant to the performance-based formula set forth in her employment agreement, compared to the grant of only 153,225 stock options she received pursuant to the same formula in 2012. In addition, the fair value of the 2013 option grant was determined at the time our stock price was at nearly an all-time high, and more than twice the stock price at the time of the 2012 option grant.” (The company’s stock price more than doubled during 2013, rising 112%.)
4 Dr. Rothblatt’s base salary includes the equivalent of $116,472 paid by the company’s Canadian subsidiary. The subsidiary pays a portion of her total base salary, in the amount of C$120,000.

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