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TORONTO – Executive Director of Moderna Canada, Patricia Gauthier is the French-speaking face of the pharmaceutical industry in Ontario. Originally from Trois-Rivières and recently relocated to Toronto, more precisely to Etobicoke, she has established her brand and her expertise in the health industry in Canada and overseas. A lawyer for seven years, she turned to an industry that, in her eyes, has more impact.
“How did your personal journey influence your choice of career?”
I am a lawyer by training and I worked for the law firm McCarty Tétrault for approximately seven years. I was specializing in medical liability and commercial transactions. While working in London with a client on a business transaction, I realized that what I wanted to do is what my clients were doing. Seeing these directors, I told myself that I was made for business executions and business strategies.
How did you finally choose this career?
I decided to come back to Montreal for my MBA at HEC (École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) with the aim of then working in an industry that has a positive impact on people’s health. So I looked into pharmaceuticals and was recruited by a large group, for which I worked for 12 years. During these years, I have had eight roles, two babies and I have mainly operated in very diverse positions: marketing, sales, team management or even government contracts … I have learned a lot in each of my roles. Most recently, I was head of the vaccines division and that’s when the opportunity to work at Moderna arose. I took the leap.
Was the transition from lawyer to employee in the pharmaceutical industry easy?
No, it was not easy. I entered a new industry and started all over again as a rep for several months. I already had several roles as a lawyer, so it allowed me to progress quite quickly. Thanks to my training and my professional career, I had been able to develop critical thinking and a great capacity for influence. All this allowed me to quickly have an impact and to progress.
Who are the people who have inspired you in your career?
I learn a lot by watching and enjoy working with people who are better than me. This generally pushes me to surpass myself and therefore to develop my abilities. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and they have given me a good example of the importance of working hard. Seeing them fight every day to ensure the survival of their business motivated me from an early age. With the help of my mentors, I was able to develop the work ethic that I currently have.
What are the difficulties you have faced in your journey?
There are several difficulties. The goal in a career is to perform for impact, so challenges are commonplace. Personally, challenges are what drives me, what gives me energy and I am constantly looking for them.
You had to ensure the implementation of Moderna in Canada, in the midst of a pandemic. Was it easy to put in place?
There is nothing easy in life. I started last year, November 30, 2020. I was the first employee in Canada and I worked from my home office. In the midst of the pandemic, my children were home schooling while I worked 16 hours a day. The goal at that time was to receive approval from Health Canada and bring the other vaccines to the territory. I had to do all of this, only three weeks after being hired. We were faced with three major challenges namely: working online, responding to the pandemic and the absence of a production line. We had pressure from both the media and the state. The stakes were really high.
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What lessons do you draw from all your experiences?
I have learned a lot of lessons in my life. I would say the first was the importance of collaboration. We must collaborate in a transparent and open manner. Throughout my career, working with people to solve problems has helped broaden my perspective. Then, I would say transparency to build trust. I really believe in sharing what we want and being true so that I can build trust and work together to find solutions.
It is also important to be flexible and to know how to adapt. Life changes quickly and the training we do at school is already out of date once we enter the workforce. I would say it’s important to stay curious and have a constant thirst for learning.
As a francophone, has your bilingualism been an asset or a hindrance?
I went to do my high school in the United States. I left on my own and moved in with a host family to learn English. I already knew at that time that if I wanted to have a career, I had to speak English. Despite my improvement, I still spoke with my Quebecois accent. For a long time, this was a complex for me. When I started working in the pharmaceutical industry in Toronto, my manager, who was from Quebec, also spoke with an accent. He didn’t have a problem with that and he traded with everyone without fear. It gave me the courage to flourish and be proud of my accent. When I changed that perspective, I was able to find the full potential of my bilingualism.
Do you feel the weight of the immense expectation aroused by the vaccine in the population?
Yes, it is a great responsibility, but it is a shared responsibility. I can act on part of the chain by providing the vaccines and by studying the effects of these funds on the variants. All the same, I have infinite gratitude for all the health professionals who are at the front of the vaccination process. I am also grateful for the people who maintained essential services during the lockdown. So are the members of the government who have worked tirelessly to maintain the delivery of services. I am only a link in a huge chain.
What are your long-term plans?
For the company, we announced our biomanufacturing project with the government. We are currently working to finalize this agreement. Subsequently, we must build the factory in accordance with the instructions required by the government. We also want to build research and development links in order to consolidate Moderna’s presence in Canada. We want to establish ourselves beyond the pandemic and prove that we are a drug company that can revolutionize medicine. “
PATRICIA GAUTHIER’S KEY DATES :
2002 : Join the McCarthy Tétrault law firm
2008 : Joined the Canadian branch of British pharmaceutical giant GSK
2013 : Promoted to Team Leader at GSK Canada
2018 : Becomes Vice-President of the Vaccination Unit at GSK Canada
2020 : Takes the head of Moderna Canada, as Executive Director
Every weekend, ONFR + meets with an actor on Francophone or political issues in Ontario and Canada.
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