Top pharmaceutical and biotech salaries

‘Big Pharma’ has been dealing with a lot of challenges lately. You might be curious to know what the people at the top of the pharma career ladder are earning to manage those challenges.

FierceBiotech — which is a great resource for keeping on top of rumours, news and developments in the pharma / biotech sector — has published their annual list of the top ten 2010 pharma CEO salaries. Suffice it to say that the CEOs are doing all right! In position #10, John Martin of Gilead Sciences brought home $14M, whereas Bill Weldon of J&J earned twice that much to take the top spot.

Of course, very few of us will reach these stratified heights. Once you move a few steps down the ladder, salaries quickly drop from 8 figures down to six. For example, I recently came across salary information for a VP of Research for a small firm developing a new molecular diagnostic test. His salary? $225K, along with a very generous relocation package.

If clinical research is your focus, our previous post “How much does a CRA earn?” might interest you.

Why don’t research scientists get paid more?  We discussed biotech scientist salaries in a previous post.

Good luck in your job search!


Posted: June 19th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Two key skill sets most biotech scientists lack — and why they don’t get paid more

About 250,000 scientists are employed by biotech firms in the United States today, and a career in commercial biotech is a goal for many PhDs, post-docs, and undergraduate science students.

Recently Fiona Murray, an associate professor from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, carried out a study of knowledge work in this sector that provides enlightening reading for those interested in a biotech career.

Read the rest of this entry »


Posted: January 28th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Preclinical R&D | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

How much does a clinical research associate earn?

How much does a CRA earn?

Clinical Research Associate jobs are in high demand, partly because many people think that becoming a CRA is a career pathway that will help them make money fast.

Are they right?

Applied Clinical Trials, a trade magazine for the clinical development sector, recently published its 2008 salary survey, which includes salary information for clinical research associates as well as other clinical careers.

According to the survey, independent CRAs earn more than anyone else in the industry — $115K on average — although it’s worth noting that as independents, they have to pay for their own benefits and the costs of marketing their services. Of course, there can be tax advantages to running your own business as well.

The mean salary for CRAs who weren’t self-employed was $76K.

You can read more about the survey at the Applied Clinical Trials website.


Posted: January 16th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Clinical Research Associates | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »