White Papers

Leading Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Medical Companies Benchmark Spending and Best Practices with Historically Underrepresented Diverse Suppliers as Benefits and Opportunities Continue to Emerge

STEVENSON RANCH, CA – November 19, 2024 – According to a just released report titled Impact: Engagement of Diverse Suppliers by Global Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Companies, numerous opportunities and benefits positively impacting local communities and global economies are driving engagement and spending with diverse suppliers.

According to the first-ever report published by Helix Supplier Diversity Forum and
Diversity Alliance for Science, diverse suppliers are agile, diligent, forward-looking business people who offer new ideas and perspectives while delivering quality products and services. As a result, investments in these organizations help create and sustain jobs in local communities, foster community wealth, enhance tax revenues, and address health disparities.

Diverse suppliers are companies whose principal owners are defined as small businesses, minorities, women, service veterans, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+. According to the report, the Top 10 categories of services provided by diverse suppliers include capital equipment, conferences and meetings, consulting, contingent labor, external manufacturing, human resources, information technology, legal, logistics, marketing and real estate.

The report benchmarks 2023 spending with diverse suppliers by Helix Forum Members, which include 18 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies and four of the top 10 medical device companies. Among the key takeaways, together, these organizations:

• Generated $15.6 billion in supply-chain spend
• Supported $29.9 billion in total economic impact
• Created/sustained 154,357 jobs

“Our members’ commitment to business diversity is a catalyst for driving societal and economic equity, benefitting many of our industry’s stakeholders, including patients, customers, investors, and vendors,” said Dee Knopp, Executive Director, Diversity Alliance for Science. “We are proud of the positive impact generated from supplier diversity initiatives and expect this momentum to accelerate going forward.”

In addition to benchmarking financial investment in supplier diversity, the report offers best practices in advocating for diverse supply chains, such as:

• Providing thought leadership for suppliers in pharma-specific practices
• Open communication with supplier-company procurement and business representatives
• Preparation for conducting business with industry by sponsoring readiness programs and mentorship
• Proactively seeking qualified diverse suppliers to include in Request for Proposals (RFP)
• Sharing best practices on growing the pool of qualified diverse suppliers for sourcing opportunities
• Active participation of corporate executive and senior management in diversity efforts
• Inclusion of supplier diversity content in corporate Environment, Social, and Governance reporting

Download the report here. 

About Helix Supplier Diversity Forum

Helix is an industry cluster of Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Medical Companies, managed in partnership with Diversity Alliance for Science (DA4S). Our purpose is to guide the leadership, equality, and advancement of a diverse supply chain, with life sciences-specific practices that are validated through research and insights. The future of our industry evolves through the governance and benchmarks we enact today.

About Diversity Alliance for Science

DA4S is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) life sciences organization focused on diversity, bringing together like-minded corporations and suppliers to advance equity and inclusion in the life science/healthcare global supply chain.

Contact: [email protected]