This is the Patient Wall at Agios Pharmaceuticals, adorned with the faces of people that Agios has helped throughout the years.

It serves as a reminder to everyone at the company that their work affects and saves real lives.

I discovered Agios’ Patient Wall through Peter Smith’s blog post on the Life Sci VC’s website. 

Peter and the team at Remix Therapeutics have created their own Patient Wall:

“Charles Kung, who has been at Agios for many years told Alex Harding about the Patient Wall at Agios and how it inspired the company. We loved that idea and decided to add our own electronic version, a big screen TV with photos of family and friends of Remix employees at our entrance that reminds us each day we are showing up to work to help patients. It has become an important part of our culture for new employees to add photos; we get to know them better and remember we are all touched by disease in some way and our work has REAL meaning.” — Peter Smith, CEO at Remix Therapeutics

During an interview with the BIOS Community, Chris Gibson said,

“Here’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten. When it’s hard, go find a patient. Because when you’re sick, all that matters is being healthy. It can reinstill all of the passion, energy and motivation. Keep yourself close to the patient.” — Chris Gibson, CEO at Recursion

And everyone should stay close to the patients, not just the founders/CEOs:

“To build passion in the workplace, the former CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lans Sorensen had ALL the employees meet with patients and understand what their lives were like and how the company’s products were transformative…”

Everyone in the biotech community, including the person writing this…we’re into this because we want our lives to have made an impact on human health and patients.

But because the daily grind can easily consume us, a five-minute conscious and deliberate weekly habit such as reflecting on our why, standing by the patient wall, talking to a patient, concluding a weekly team meeting with a reminder of our shared vision, can give access to hidden reservoirs of energy and motivation in both good and tough days.