Washington, D.C. Not long into that posi-
tion, she attended a hearing of the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions to discuss barriers that stifle
patient access to more affordable medicine
where Mylan’s now-CEO Heather Bresch
was testifying. McClintic Coates was so
impressed by the West Virginia-founded
company that she reached out to their
leadership to see if she could do some
work for them in D.C. They instead of-
fered her a job in the legal department as
a regulatory attorney. A few attorneys she
had met in Washington, D.C., cautioned
her about taking the job in West Virginia
so early in her career, but McClintic
Coates believed in the company and its
ability to grow globally. Three months
after she accepted the position and moved
to Morgantown, Mylan announced the
acquisition of Merck KGaA. Almost over-
night, the West Virginia company went
from serving one country to nearly 165.
McClintic Coates continued to move up
the ranks at Mylan from associate regula-
tory counsel to global regulatory counsel
in the legal department to vice president
and chief of staff to the CEO. She then
worked as the head of global regulatory
affairs before taking on her current role
as the head of global policy. In this po-
sition, she oversees Mylan’s health and
public policy efforts in the various markets
the company serves around the world.
Working for a pharmaceutical com-
pany, one of the biggest challenges she
faces is being in a heavily science-based
environment without a formal science
background.
“I quickly learned that in order to help
my clients, I need to be humble enough to
speak up when I don’t understand some-
thing,” she says. “However, sometimes
the simplicity of my questions illuminates
a different way for the experts to see a
path we may have overlooked. This is one
of my favorite things about Mylan—my
colleagues are willing to share what they
know, and each area of expertise really
brings added value.”
Over the last decade, working with
what she considers the best colleagues
in the industry has enabled her to help
reverse a number of unnecessary barriers
that have either delayed or denied patient
access to more affordable medicines both
within and outside the U.S. One project
she is especially proud of is her role in
the negotiation and drafting of the FDA
McClintic Coates at the
Walk to End HIV with her
Mylan coworkers in 2017.
Amendments Act of 2012, which updated
an outdated law from 1938 that effectively
held prescription drugs manufactured
outside the U.S. to a different standard
than drugs manufactured here.
While McClintic Coates’ work has
been widely recognized in her industry,
she says her greatest accolade came re-
cently at bedtime during story time with
her 3-year-old daughter.
“She told me when she grows up, she
wants to help people because that’s what
her mommy does,” says McClintic Coates.
“And she made it clear she will wear high
heels too.”
McClintic Coates is extremely proud
of her roots in White Sulphur Springs,
so when the area was affected by devas-
tating flooding in 2016, she was driven
to do her part to help. She worked with
community members, volunteers and
organizations like the disaster recovery
nonprofits Homes for West Virginia and
SBP to help those who had lost every-
thing. A $1 million donation from Mylan
and a gift from White Sulphur Springs
native and MedExpress founder Dr. Frank
Alderman enabled them to build a new
housing community with more than 40
new homes.
“Not only did this effort help fami-
lies get back home, but the generous gift
from Mylan made me so proud to work
at a place that truly cares about the com-
munity,” she says. “I was so humbled by
the gift, I wanted to help make sure the
money was put to direct use for good.”
McClintic Coates’ community service
didn’t end with flood recovery. Today, she
serves on the Association for Accessible
Medicine board of directors, the trade
association for the generic drug industry
in Washington, D.C., and she devotes time
to the Dispensary of Hope, a nonprofit
that provides free medication to people
throughout the country. She also serves
on the board of the Hugh O’Brian Youth
Leadership organization, where she was
recently elected vice chair. She also enjoys
mentoring high school and college-aged
women on how to find their path in life.
“So many young people and profes-
sionals agonize over the ongoing search
of figuring out exactly what they want
to be,” she says. “My advice is to change
your mindset and stop obsessing over
what you want to be and instead focus
on how you want to be.”
While McClintic Coates gets to travel
around with the world with Mylan, she
never forgets where she came from or the
hardworking West Virginians like her par-
ents who helped instill in her the strong
values that have lended to her success.
“West Virginia is such a special place
to me,” she says. “From singing ‘Country
Roads’ at Mountaineer Field to witnessing
the outpouring of love as neighbors gave
more than they had to give following the
2016 floods, there is something enduring
about this place that never leaves me no
matter where I go.”
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