Pamela Barry’s passion for her work as Assistant Treasurer at Biogen Inc, the biotech company that seeks solutions to some of the world most devastating diseases, derives from an aspect of her personal life. Her mother suffers from dementia and is living in a memory care facility. Finding a cure for the disease and supporting the development of pioneering neuroscience at the company is central to her believes and purpose.
Pamela joined Biogen in 1998 from the investment management team at State Street. Since then, her many treasury and finance roles at the company have included managing Biogen’s capital structure and investment portfolio; risk management and overseeing global banking operations. Before she made Assistant Treasurer in 2012, she was Cash Manager and Director of Treasury Operations.
Pamela’s treasury experience and ability has supported Biogen through multiple periods of change. Most recently she played a leading role in the company’s US$7.3bn acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals. She led the funding of the transaction, priming and positioning the cash portfolio for the large acquisition, as well as readying term loans. Additionally, she oversaw the integration of the companies’ bank account structures with Bank of America. The process included introducing emerging treasury technologies into the transformation effort, helping simplify the company’s treasury processes and win cost efficiencies.
Pamela also supported multiple stakeholders across the Biogen organisation integrate with Reata Pharmaceuticals. For example, she worked with various risk management/insurance teams, including a programme running clinical trials with Friedrichs Ataxia, FA, patients in over 30 countries. Reata’s FDA-approved SKYCLARYS is the first and only approved treatment for the nerve disorder, FA.
In recent years, Pamela’s team has also attracted attention for its management of the company’s short-term investment portfolio. She oversaw an increase in interest income by more than US$50m in 2023, thanks to a strategy, first implemented in 2022, to participate in higher interest rates while also reducing unrealised losses in the company’s cash and marketable securities portfolios.
When colleagues describe Pamela’s treasury skills, they invariably focus on her leadership ability. They describe an empathetic style that fosters inclusivity and inspires others to follow. “I have had the pleasure of working with Pamela for the last four years, and the results she has achieved in terms of treasury transformation and impacting critical results have been nothing short of remarkable,” said one colleague. “Pamela is a team leader in treasury but has a wide-ranging impact across the organisation. In the meritocratic environment at Biogen, Pamela leads by example while exhibiting the pillars of our culture,” said another.
Pamela also has a reputation for being candid and open, especially when conversations grow difficult. She is self-deprecating and quick to use humour to lighten the most challenging situations. Colleagues describe her as a “driving force” supporting change whether via subtle mentoring and colleague support, or standout structural improvements. “Pamela is a critical member of the team – a leader, an advisor and a friend,” said one colleague.
Volunteering
Pamela’s personal experience doesn’t just drive and energise her approach to treasury. It also informs her passion for volunteering and giving back, particularly her support for dementia charities, victims and their families. Colleagues describe her support of women and patients suffering from dementia as “truly meaningful and impactful.”
Pamela also champions diversity. She has taken an active role in nurturing diversity amongst Biogen’s banking cohort. For example, she chose a black-owned, Boston-based bank as one of Biogen’s banking partners. She is also renown for championing women, notably mentoring younger women through Biogen’s Women’s Innovation Network. She has developed Biogen’s cross-function mentorship programme, supporting people without treasury or finance skills understand aspects of treasury like cash management. The programme has helped her hire people internally from other departments, all of whom have proven strong additions to her team.
Pamela is a rare combination of talent, leadership and compassion. She is an excellent communicator and has won respect from juniors to senior bankers. She can comfortably and authoritatively navigate complex situations to deliver the results her company requires in a unique style that combines positivity and open encouragement.
