Mark Biddle

Global Head of IT

How did you get started in the pharmaceutical industry?

My first job in pharmaceuticals was in the finance department. Most of my day-to-day job was focused on budgets, forecasting and sales reporting with just a small part of the job being IT. That all changed when that company merged with another company and the use of IT systems at everyone’s desk became the new way of working. This was a turning point in my career and since then I have been working in IT in various roles and geographies with increased level of responsibilities.

What do you like about working in IT?

I love working with stakeholders to assess key business needs and deliver IT solutions and services that enables benefits realization. IT is foundational to driving business continuity and productivity. The challenges of today have shifted from mainly managing technology in the past to driving organizational change. This change focuses on an organizations capability to adopt and use IT solutions provided in companies today. This makes IT a great place to be since we work with processes across enterprises and we act as the conduit that enables great end to end solutions.

What type of role have you had in IT?

My career has been in large multinational companies within pharmaceuticals as well as Med-tech and which has afforded me many interesting opportunities over the years. For example. I’ve worked across Europe and globally in different IT management roles. I have been in traditional IT leadership roles as well as more specialized roles focusing on specific areas within IT like Infrastructure or applications. This has given me a great understanding of IT, cultures and the challenges associated with organizational change. However, even when there are challenges it is so rewarding when you achieve the desired results globally.

Why did you come over to Oncopeptides?

I have been working in IT for about 30 years and I wanted to use this experience to build a global IT function from scratch at a growing global Company. Being part of a Swedish company with global aspirations, with a pipeline and a deep commitment to helping patients is exciting. To build a new company based in cloud-based IT solutions is a fantastic opportunity since it gives an ability to scale with focus on organizational capabilities rather than legacy IT technology. We are now fully focused on scaling up the internal IT team capabilities and services to support the business growth.

Why do you like working in healthcare?

I have spent my whole career in healthcare. Every day I feel that I am part of something greater – a team committed to bringing innovative therapies to patients in need. It is very inspiring.

What makes Oncopeptides unique?

At Oncopeptides people have a “can-do mindset.” We are working together towards shared goals. It is really refreshing to work in this kind of an environment. Instead of people saying, “we tried that, and it didn’t work” you typically hear, “let’s try it, let’s make it happen.”