Executive pay goes up at private life sciences companies despite tumultuous economic climate.

摘要

The 4th quarter of 2008 marked one of the worst three-month stretches for US equity markets since the Great Depression. Concurrent to the markets' year-end tumble, compensation committees across the life sciences industry were convening to determine 2009 pay levels for their executives. Surprisingly, the latest compensation study released by executive search firm J. Robert Scott and Ernst & Young, in collaboration with Noam Wasserman at Harvard Business School, rebranded this year as CompStudy (http://www.compstudy.com/), revealed that total target cash compensation at private life sciences companies for 2009 was up by nearly 4.5%. Contrast that to the largely flat pay at technology companies, including downward movement in a few key positions as well as bonuses as a percentage of base salary, and the result is even more surprising.