FibroGen Reviews

3.9

75% would recommend to a friend

(132 total reviews)
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Thane Wettig

100% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

FibroGen has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 132 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The FibroGen employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

132 reviews
1.0
23 Aug 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Relatively good pipeline. Two drugs in the pipeline but both seem promising, especially the anemia drug.

Cons

Before taking the position at Fibrogen I checked the reviews and there was this review about employees being like Orcs from Lord of the Rings. And if you go there and stay to long you will turn into one. Most accurate review I have read about a company. But for some reason it is not up anymore. Fake positive reviews of the company are being posted by Human Resources. Unfortunately, the bad reputation of this company precedes itself. Toxicity trickles down from the executive level. Micro-management runs rampant by unqualified staff that shift blame onto anyone other than themselves, toxic culture, and unethical decisions made daily. Lack of collaboration, decisions appear to be made on short term financial savings at cost to long term, considerable resistance to change/coming up to industry standards or current practices. Most employees don't want to take responsibility for anything. Don't turn your back because there is a knife around every corner (Especially from Upper Management and your Managers) and someone is ready to stab you in the back at every turn and point the finger and blame everyone else. Upper management are bunch of pathetic liars. They also take credit from others. They punish the good and reward the bad. Those greedy, selfish, and incompetent people do not qualify to manage or lead the group. There are only two types of people at this organization; the ones with power, and the ones without power. Unfortunately, most people are powerless. Fibrogen has horrible management, hostile and toxic work environment and culture. Management is horrible and doesn't treat employees well. No core values. Fibrogen has a severe lack of professionalism, integrity, and ethics and this starts with Human Resources and the CEO. There is abundant closed-mindedness, and lack of true teamwork. There is a lack of common sense, guidance and support. Turnover rate is extremely high. Turnover is so bad; there is no continuity on studies for people internally or in relationships with services providers or sites. The clinical department is a revolving door. Money dictates every decision. Hire talent but cannot keep them. They do a great job in encouraging them to leave by demotivating and threatening them. They do horrible things to employees behind closed door and then conceal the truth. Upper Management level doesn’t care about the employees. They will insult you and belittle you if you did something wrong. There is no room for you to learn. You have to know how to do the job the Fibrogen way. No mentoring or room for advancement. Some people are nice, but in general, this place makes the beast in everyone come out. People come in nice but management wants them to be mean. There is no sense of team work or collaboration. No amount of money is worth working there. The stress and anxiety of working here will kill anyone who was previously sane. Everyone who knows something about this company before going in says "how bad can it really be?" And, most of those people don't last more than a few months. Hard to overstate the dysfunctionality - it's a new level of crazy. Many people enter sane and balanced, only to leave traumatized and shattered. All of the negative reviews here on Glassdoor seem to hit things on the head. Some occurrences at Fibrogen seem like science fiction, they are so far beyond the realm of normal human behavior. Don't be foolish and think that you can somehow emerge unscathed. Upper management shows no respect or regard for employees. Upper Management abuses their employees and has been accused of sexual harassment and the company has been sued over this behavior by women. Instead of doing anything about this sexist Upper Management the company fires the females and hires more. They have to have a female in certain departments or the company will be sued for sexual discrimination. This Upper Management talks about all of their colleagues and insults them and says everyone is stupid and is idiots even their own employees. They even said another employee should die! There is little to no training offered to new hires. A lot of policies and procedures are terribly outdated and inefficient (or nonexistent) - and no one is willing to update them. Upper management is disorganized, doesn't know how to delegate, secretive, and most of the times behave like children throwing tantrums. The hostility and vile is unbelievable! Management yells at employees in meetings and physically intimidates employees. The evil just seeps out of some people you can see it coming out of there pores. Enough cannot be said about how vile and toxic this company and Upper Management is. Human resources just continues to allow upper management to harass woman and all of the employees in general. Think long and hard about considering working here you will never be the same. I can contest to this as I have nightmares about Fibrogen!!!

4.0
1 Nov 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Like many others, I read GlassDoor reviews and they weighed heavily on my mind as I walked into the interview room. Like others, I was concerned. So, as someone just like you, reading these reviews, I thought it would be helpful to future interviewees to detail my experience. Despite the negative reviews, I took a leap of faith and accepted the job offer. Coming from a previous job with an immensely toxic culture, this was not an easy decision. Every day I looked out for red flags or signs that people were being fake and effecting a happy face, but instead I just saw hard-working colleagues working toward a common goal, each one waving or smiling at me and each other as we walk past. Of course, each department is different, and no doubt you will find disgruntled workers, but overall the atmosphere here is shockingly friendly. The culture, although not defined as well as some other companies, is one of camaraderie. The work is intellectually stimulating in the Research department, which is reflected in the minimally low turnover rate of scientists here. This does not mean there are not areas that FibroGen needs to improve on, but it does mean that you should not read a review here and expect your experience to be the same, good or bad. Follow your gut feeling and don't let negative reviews from angry persons cloud your judgment without giving it a chance. Lastly, here's what those negative reviews don't tell you - they all come from one department, which currently has an immense workload due to the nature of where FibroGen's business is right now. But, do not for one second think that that means everyone in that department is miserable; it is demonstrably false. Other pros: - Independence is highly available and freely given to those who desire it and are capable of managing their own work - Engaging product pipeline (IPF, preclinical cancer therapeutics, bioartifical cornea) - Atmosphere of collaboration - Gorgeous building and location (right on the bay) - In-building cafeteria (but... the food could be better) - Yearly cruise during Fleet Week to see the Blue Angels

Cons

- Complacency; some management have a myopic view of how things should be done and are resistant to change - Unyielding budget; most of FibroGen's money is tied up in clinical trials and this means budget allocation only trickles down to other departments

5.0
16 Jun 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I have been with FibroGen for a very long time. I am a huge fan of this company. It has been very good to me and has given me the opportunity to grow professionally in a way most other places wouldn't. FibroGen is a very exciting place to work right now. The clinical science looks promising - FibroGen is conducting clinical studies on a global basis evaluating drugs to treat anemia, cancer and different fibrotic diseases. Hopefully, we'll be filing a New Drug Application is a couple of years. FibroGen has been establishing a subsidiary in China and running clinical studies in that Country. For both the US and China staff, it has been exciting and educational working in and with China setting up all aspects of the subsidiary and working through the logistics of clinical studies in that country. The compensation at FibroGen is competitive and diversified (salary, bonus, stock options, RSU plan, ESPP, matching 401K). Your hard work is rewarded. But be prepared to work hard. Overall, the FibroGen team is well qualified, creative, intense, and hard working. There are opportunities to grow at FibroGen, for your voice to be heard, and for you to be creative. There are also plenty of opportunities to learn. Great location. Right across the street from UCSF medical school. One side of our building looks onto the bay - stunning views. The Mission Bay neighborhood is developing - restaurants, wine bars, gourmet food trucks all within walking distance. The health club in our building is good, and UCSF has a full health club with a pool just across the street. It is a beautiful walk/run from FibroGen to the Ferry Building.

Cons

FibroGen employees can be intense and clashes occasionally occur. Upper management does not appear overly concerned with this. It's not a huge problem, but clashes do occur. Upper management does not delegate very well. This has improved somewhat over the years, but still poses a challenge for our management. This lack of delegation sometimes causes delays and when an overdue decision is finally made staff needs to needlessly rush to meet a timeline. Workload can be heavy at times, and FibroGen is somewhat understaffed. If you are hard working, motivated, and can deal with an occasional frustration, you'll be fine. It is sometimes difficult to get updates on company goals and progress due to poor internal corporate communications.

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Glassdoor has 142 FibroGen reviews submitted anonymously by FibroGen employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if FibroGen is right for you.