Council Structure

The initial Council was comprised of 1 representative from each of Roche, GSK, Atorus, and Janssen/J&J. During 2023 and 2024, the Council expanded by 3 organizations, the first being Novo Nordisk followed by Appsilon and Sanofi. In 2025, Novartis joined the Council. Each council member puts forward one representative for a 2-year commitment. At the start of each subsequent year, any Council member organization with an expiring commitment may remain on the Council with a renewed 2-year commitment. If a Council member organization leaves, they will be replaced by another Organization with one representative and a 2-year commitment. There is no restriction on the type of organization that may be part of the Council (e.g., pharma, CRO, vendor, or regulatory). In the event of a vacancy on the Council, any Council member may nominate a replacement organization to fill the vacancy. Alternatively, any organization believing they could make an impact (and able to meet the expectations below) could reach out to any Council member to apply. Acceptance to the Council 2-year term is granted by the existing council, inclusive of outgoing membership.

It is expected that a Council member organization contribute:

• One representative to the Council
• Commitment to at least 2 open source packages under pharmaverse via reviews, hands-on code development, product leads, or other roles which contribute to the design, development, testing, release, and/or maintenance

To become a member of the pharmaverse Council, companies should be committed to operating a supportive environment that embraces all individuals, providing all their employees with the tools to reach their fullest potential. They should do their utmost to create a culture that fosters growth, and one that is free of harassment, intimidation, bias, and discrimination. This could include publishing vision and mission statements, policies, the provision of professional development and training on creating an inclusive workplace, strategies for recruiting and retaining a workforce that represents a broad spectrum of backgrounds and actively tracking equitable compensation to guarantee fair pay for all.

Companies should hold all employees accountable for contributing to a culture that values every individual and have established procedures to address any discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, colour, religion, veteran status, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy status, sex, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected by law. They should also make all reasonable accommodations to meet their obligations under laws protecting the rights of the disabled.

All individuals contributing to pharmaverse are expected to adhere to the PHUSE Code of Conduct.

Council Member Terms

Council Activities

(What does the Council do?)

• Renders (or delegates the rendering of) the ‘curated’ element of ‘a curated set of packages’
• Sets the strategy for pharmaverse
• Governs packages within the pharmaverse: What’s in and what’s out; What’s recommended to practitioners and what’s not; Sets the requirements for a package to be included in the pharmaverse
• Support organizations developing candidate packages
• Provides guidance on release train planning (ongoing maintenance, development and release): Determines the platform(s) to distribute code; Oversees the Communications plan for new package releases (including new versions)
• Initiates projects or workshops
• Pursues regulatory engagement to advance the pharmaverse initiative
• Provides oversight for managed contracts for collaborations - to ensure no conflicts – NOT LEGAL GUIDANCE!
• Leads by example – models Development Team structure and collaborative model
• Determines the course of the ‘pharmaverse’ as an entity: Does it become a stand-alone organization? Does it require funding? Should it be self-sufficient?
• Helps new open source contributors find projects they may support

Any decision rendered by the Council will be determined by majority vote of the Council membership where at least 60% of the Council is present. In the event of a tie, keep talking and figure it out.

Council Meetings

• Monthly - 1h agenda from topics as described above (to be determined by Council members)
• From start of 2023, summary minutes will be posted openly here
• There is an expectation of Council member action items to be completed between Council meetings