Paul Hanson has worked at Takeda Pharmaceuticals for 17 years. Paul started in the R&D bioprocess development group working on a couple of late-phase assets that successfully transitioned into commercial products. Paul moved with those products to lead a newly formed biologics group in commercial technical operations. In this role he grew an organization with capabilities in the application of first principles and multivariate statistical process control to manufacturing data for streamlining post-approval commercial lifecycle management timelines. With Takeda's purchase of Shire in 2019, Paul took on a new role as Head of Lifecycle Management, Innovation, and Strategy within the recently created Global Manufacturing Sciences organization. In this role Paul has been leading a diverse group of individuals working in global knowledge management domains such as material qualification, dedicated manufacturing investigators, and more recently, the qualification and application of artificial intelligence in manufacturing business processes.
“Discretion is an essential quality to leadership because it’s a framework for providing people the information they need when they need it” Paul Hanson, Head (VP) Lifecycle Management, Innovation, and Strategy at Takeda Pharmaceuticals
What is the best advice someone has ever given you?
Whenever possible, avoid making a life-changing decision when events are at their worst. When the job, or life, is piling onto you, take the time to create space for yourself to see the situation from the “outside in”, as Daniel Kahneman put it. Then, use that space to determine what is your best path forward.
What advice would you give us?
Exercise, please! Our maximum heart rate begins to decline after about our mid-20’s. Our muscle mass starts to decline in our 30’s and along with it, the bond density. Then, our sleep quality starts to drop in our 50’s. Exercise is the number one tool for slowing these losses.
An essential quality to lead…
Discretion is an essential quality to leadership because it’s a framework for providing people the information they need when they need it to help their decision making process. Too much, too soon can be at best distracting and at worst, paralyzing.
What book, podcast, YouTube channel or any other type of content do you recommend us…
I’ve got two: The first is Acquired. Every month the hosts dive deep into what makes a company successful. The show is the best source of business strategy analysis that I’ve come across.
The second is the free newsletter from superhuman.ai. The authors provide daily updates on the evolution of A.I. that has become indispensible for helping me shape the integration of the different functions into my team’s workflows.
What historical figure would you like to have on your team?
Abraham Lincoln. He managed to maintain his humanity at a time when the future integrity of the country was far from certain and in the face of deep personal loss. His humanity allowed him to see, and realize, the benefits of putting together people with competing ideas of how the world should work. The end results were even better solutions than either party saw individually.
Have you always been clear about your professional objective?
Nope. When I was in graduate school, I had this vague idea of what my ideal job would entail. I then began making a series of short-term decisions that took me further and further from that ideal. It took a moment of punctuated equilibrium, in the form of Hurrican Katrina, to put me on a path that took me to where I am today. The good news is that while we lost 98% of our stuff, we’re now 98% closer to realizing our professional objectives.
What is the bravest decision you have made in our life?
We moved from post-Katrina New Orleans to Boston without jobs but the confidence that we would find roles.
What is the most curious app you have on your mobile?
Looking now…”Hugging Chat”. When I have a some downtime, I’ll start exploring some ideas to see where they lead me. Occassionally the explorations lead to unrelated ideas that open up new avenues for previously intractable problems.
What do people assume about you, and that isn’t true?
I think they might assume that I spend more time than I do in creating the various products that I deliver. The reality is that I’ve learned to distill large amounts of information into an exective-friendly format. As a consequence, my ability to influence has increased, though I’m constantly refining the ability based on results.
What do you think will be the next revolution in your sector/industry?
We’re hitting the peak year for boomer retirement and this presents a business continuity challenge. I think multi-modal large language models, in conjunction with robotics, will fill that gap sooner than later.
What do you admire and do not tolerate in a person?
What I admire in a person…compassion. We need to be more compassionate to ourselves and to each other.
What I do not tolerate in a person…being anchored to the past. Every moment spent thinking about something that literally can not be changed is wasted.
Which three top managers would you like to nominate?
Julie Trulson, VP, Head of CMC at Asher Biotherapeutics.
Josh Vernandez, Sr. Director GMP Quality Operations at BlueRock Therapeutics.
Anne Radcliff, Global Product Leader at Astra Zeneca.
“Discretion is an essential quality to leadership because it’s a framework for providing people the information they need when they need it” Paul Hanson, Head (VP) Lifecycle Management, Innovation, and Strategy at Takeda Pharmaceuticals
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Paul Hanson has worked at Takeda Pharmaceuticals for 17 years. Paul started in the R&D bioprocess development group working on a couple of late-phase assets that successfully transitioned into commercial products. Paul moved with those products to lead a newly formed biologics group in commercial technical operations. In this role he grew an organization with capabilities in the application of first principles and multivariate statistical process control to manufacturing data for streamlining post-approval commercial lifecycle management timelines. With Takeda's purchase of Shire in 2019, Paul took on a new role as Head of Lifecycle Management, Innovation, and Strategy within the recently created Global Manufacturing Sciences organization. In this role Paul has been leading a diverse group of individuals working in global knowledge management domains such as material qualification, dedicated manufacturing investigators, and more recently, the qualification and application of artificial intelligence in manufacturing business processes.
What is the best advice someone has ever given you?
Whenever possible, avoid making a life-changing decision when events are at their worst. When the job, or life, is piling onto you, take the time to create space for yourself to see the situation from the “outside in”, as Daniel Kahneman put it. Then, use that space to determine what is your best path forward.
What advice would you give us?
Exercise, please! Our maximum heart rate begins to decline after about our mid-20’s. Our muscle mass starts to decline in our 30’s and along with it, the bond density. Then, our sleep quality starts to drop in our 50’s. Exercise is the number one tool for slowing these losses.
An essential quality to lead…
Discretion is an essential quality to leadership because it’s a framework for providing people the information they need when they need it to help their decision making process. Too much, too soon can be at best distracting and at worst, paralyzing.
What book, podcast, YouTube channel or any other type of content do you recommend us…
I’ve got two: The first is Acquired. Every month the hosts dive deep into what makes a company successful. The show is the best source of business strategy analysis that I’ve come across.
The second is the free newsletter from superhuman.ai. The authors provide daily updates on the evolution of A.I. that has become indispensible for helping me shape the integration of the different functions into my team’s workflows.
What historical figure would you like to have on your team?
Abraham Lincoln. He managed to maintain his humanity at a time when the future integrity of the country was far from certain and in the face of deep personal loss. His humanity allowed him to see, and realize, the benefits of putting together people with competing ideas of how the world should work. The end results were even better solutions than either party saw individually.
Have you always been clear about your professional objective?
Nope. When I was in graduate school, I had this vague idea of what my ideal job would entail. I then began making a series of short-term decisions that took me further and further from that ideal. It took a moment of punctuated equilibrium, in the form of Hurrican Katrina, to put me on a path that took me to where I am today. The good news is that while we lost 98% of our stuff, we’re now 98% closer to realizing our professional objectives.
What is the bravest decision you have made in our life?
We moved from post-Katrina New Orleans to Boston without jobs but the confidence that we would find roles.
What is the most curious app you have on your mobile?
Looking now…”Hugging Chat”. When I have a some downtime, I’ll start exploring some ideas to see where they lead me. Occassionally the explorations lead to unrelated ideas that open up new avenues for previously intractable problems.
What do people assume about you, and that isn’t true?
I think they might assume that I spend more time than I do in creating the various products that I deliver. The reality is that I’ve learned to distill large amounts of information into an exective-friendly format. As a consequence, my ability to influence has increased, though I’m constantly refining the ability based on results.
What do you think will be the next revolution in your sector/industry?
We’re hitting the peak year for boomer retirement and this presents a business continuity challenge. I think multi-modal large language models, in conjunction with robotics, will fill that gap sooner than later.
What do you admire and do not tolerate in a person?
What I admire in a person…compassion. We need to be more compassionate to ourselves and to each other.
What I do not tolerate in a person…being anchored to the past. Every moment spent thinking about something that literally can not be changed is wasted.
Which three top managers would you like to nominate?
Julie Trulson, VP, Head of CMC at Asher Biotherapeutics.
Josh Vernandez, Sr. Director GMP Quality Operations at BlueRock Therapeutics.
Anne Radcliff, Global Product Leader at Astra Zeneca.
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“Discretion is an essential quality to leadership because it’s a framework for providing people the information they need when they need it” Paul Hanson, Head (VP) Lifecycle Management, Innovation, and Strategy at Takeda Pharmaceuticals