When Kym Goddu began his career as a research scientist in academia, eventually transitioning to drug discovery within the pharmaceutical industry, he never imagined devoting the majority of his career to leadership roles within human resources, helping several pharmaceutical companies execute its R&D strategy leveraging an organization’s most important asset – its people.
“I always found the most interesting courses in school were the science courses,” said Kym. “This coupled with some early mentors who helped direct me to pursue further study in biology, led me to start my career as a bench scientist.” But it was a chance presentation – where he was encouraged to share his perspective on how to help streamline R&D efforts during his time in drug development at Pfizer – that led Kym to follow a path towards a career overseeing human resources, communications and public affairs, culminating in his present position as R&D Change and Enablement Lead for Daiichi Sankyo.
“I think my career has been more like a Japanese colleague’s career than the typical Western career,” continued Kym, referencing the focus of Japanese companies on career development and succession planning through providing people the opportunity to gain experience across multiple disciplines through job rotations.
Third Time’s a Charm
Following Kym’s chance presentation, the company’s global head of human resources asked if he would consider a career change. “I said no to him two times,” remembered Kym. “It wasn’t until after the third time he asked -- and following an interesting encounter with another member of his team while I was waiting to enter a meeting with him -- where I really felt the excitement about the possibilities of adding value to the organization even greater than I had ever thought possible.”
From this time on, Kym built a career in human resources where he was intricately involved in the multi-billion dollar merger and acquisition of two separate major pharmaceutical companies with Pfizer, and then a leader within Asubio Pharma, a small pharmaceutical company, that was eventually acquired and absorbed by Daiichi Sankyo.
Capturing the Hearts and Minds of People
Despite successful experiences with merger and acquisition activity, Kym is the first to admit that sometimes these activities do not always go according to the plan on paper. However, he has learned that people and relationship building are critical components to focus on when undergoing any type of organizational change.
“While it’s relatively easy to acquire intellectual property, it’s so hard to capture the hearts and minds of people. Talent is such a precious commodity, and it’s the center of successful execution of any corporate strategy. The key to Daiichi Sankyo’s future success is in our people.”
- Kym Goddu, R&D Change & Enablement Lead
Kym admits that right now he is living in the future since he is focused on Daiichi Sankyo’s R&D strategy from 2025 to 2030 but appreciates the company’s bold decision to transform into a global leader in oncology.
“Our strategic pivot has brought us to where we are today, where we can celebrate that Daiichi Sankyo is a company now known for its scientific and technological innovation with a research pipeline that is the envy of many,” said Kym. “Patients demand the best science and the best medicine we can bring to them. I expect that our innovation will continue to a point where patients with cancer will have many more treatment options and survival will be even greater.”
Capturing the hearts and minds of all the people around the world that work at Daiichi Sankyo is the cornerstone of delivering innovative medicines to patients that create new standards of care.