Which pharma is best for moms?

Yesterday, we highlighted the drugmakers recognized for their environmental initiatives. Today, it's working-mother friendliness. Working Mother magazine unveiled its list of the 100 best companies for women, and nine of those--almost 10 percent--were drugmakers.

The noteworthy nine are, in alpha order, Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis. These companies were commended for everything from flexible work schedules to telecommuting to child care, even summer vacation programs for school-age kids (AstraZeneca). And it's not just family-friendliness that makes the grade, but advancement opportunities for women; Bristol-Myers women, for instance, get career-long mentoring.

Pharma isn't exactly a stranger to this list; drugmakers have put in an appearance there for years. In fact, last year pharma boasted a dozen entrants. One of them, alas, was Genentech, which has since been swallowed by Roche--and Roche didn't rate this year or last. Also dropping off this year were Bayer and Wyeth.

- see the pharma list from Working Mother
- check out the full ranking

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