AstraZeneca’s mission is to deliver great medicines that bring benefit for patients and add value for our shareholders and society as a whole. The demand for healthcare continues to grow, driven by people living longer, rising populations and the emergence of new economies. And despite the significant advances in healthcare in recent decades, many diseases remain under-diagnosed or not well treated, or there is not yet an effective therapy. Alongside these opportunities for our business, we also face a number of challenges, including pricing pressure, higher regulatory hurdles and strong competition. AstraZeneca has a clear strategy for driving continued success within this dynamic business environment. It centres on four main priorities: - Strengthening our pipeline of new medicines – both from our own research efforts and through externalisation to access the world of science outside AstraZeneca that will help us develop better, safer medicines. At the same time, we are working to improve the efficiency of our processes to ensure we get these medicines to patients as quickly as we can.
- Delivering the full potential of all our marketed medicines – through rigorous lifecycle management and excellent customer support, to ensure we deliver the full benefit of our range for patients and society.
- Re-shaping our business – by challenging all aspects of our cost base to make room for further investment in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of new medicines.
I want AstraZeneca to be valued as a source of great medicines, but also to be trusted for the way in which we do business. Therefore, our strategy includes a fourth priority, which underpins and supports achievement of the first three. - We must continue to promote a culture of responsibility and accountability across all aspects of our business activity and make every interaction count towards ensuring that AstraZeneca continues to be welcomed as a trusted member of society.
In this introduction, I am highlighting some of our key achievements and challenges relating to our corporate responsibility. More information about these and other areas of our commitment is provided throughout this Responsibility section of our website. You can also read more about our business environment, strategy, goals and performance in our Annual Report and Form 20-F Information.
As in previous years, our 2007 CR reporting material has been externally assured by Bureau Veritas and during the year, we also took the decision to become a Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) B+ reporter. This approach provides our stakeholders with a consistent disclosure framework that helps them to compare performance across a range of industries, and it also provides us with an additional means of identifying any gaps in our priority action plan.
Our business performance management framework, sets financial and non-financial targets, including CR, in line with our strategic objectives. Progress against these targets is reviewed quarterly by the AstraZeneca Board and Senior Executive Team. Related objectives are also being included in personal targets at all levels to support the integration of CR into our everyday business activity.
In 2007, we further strengthened our CR leadership and governance to make sure that we have appropriate systems in place for identifying the risks and opportunities associated with our CR, together with effective frameworks for managing them and driving compliance with all relevant policies and standards.
We also reviewed and expanded our Code of Conduct to provide clear direction for all our staff on what is required of them. The Code is being translated into over 40 languages and will be distributed to all our employees during 2008, followed by training for everyone to promote understanding of how the Code applies to their daily activities.
As a global business, we know that we must be able to demonstrate consistent and appropriate behaviour wherever we have a presence or an impact. Across all of our activities, we work to make sure that we have the right policies and guidance in place to drive a common approach to meeting our CR commitments.
Promoting high standards of sales and marketing practice is one of our top priorities. Over the past two years, AstraZeneca and all our affiliate companies outside North America (where we continued to refine our extensive set of existing policies) have introduced a new strengthened code of Sales and Marketing practice, supported by extensive training in all countries. I am pleased to be able to report that this has contributed to a reduction in the number of our confirmed breaches of codes or regulations ruled by external bodies in 2007 (32 compared to 44 in 2006 and 56 in 2005) and reflects our continued commitment to communicating information about our medicines accurately, effectively and in a proper manner worldwide.
In line with our strategic effort to broaden our base for scientific research, in the last two years AstraZeneca has significantly boosted its biopharmaceuticals capabilities through the acquisition of first Cambridge Antibody Technology in 2006 and then MedImmune in 2007. In biopharmaceutical research, primates are in most cases the only relevant animal model. In anticipation of our increased use of primates, therefore, during 2006/2007, we developed a specific global standard for their use and care. Based on the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes, our new standard applies globally to drive consistent practice across our primate research.
Another priority for us, particularly as we continue to expand our outsourcing activity, is ensuring that our suppliers embrace CR standards similar to our own. During 2007, we updated our major supplier evaluation procedure, further strengthening the CR elements in areas such as human rights and labour standards. Training in these new elements will be provided to auditors during 2008.
We also work to ensure that new members of the AstraZeneca family understand our CR expectations. Since the acquisition, we are working closely with MedImmune to make sure that our two companies’ policies and standards are aligned. Given the scope and complexity of the task, this will take time and therefore MedImmune’s performance details are not included in the scope of our 2007 reporting.
The overall lack of improvement in our driver safety record in 2007, despite our recent efforts, is a major concern. Good driving practice and the creation of a safe driving culture are the most effective ways of reducing the risk of accidents, and I am determined that we further strengthen our effort in these areas. During 2007, we began the development of an international framework for the consistent management of driver safety that reinforces the need, and provides the structure for strengthening our commitment in this priority area, whilst still allowing for local interpretation that takes account of the various driving environments (we have some 22,000 drivers in 63 countries around the world). The framework complements and strengthens our ongoing efforts to actively raise the profile of driver safety, particularly among our sales teams – by far the largest group that drive on Company business. We plan to complete the framework and begin roll-out in early 2008.
As well as the availability of medicines, access to healthcare depends on having a functional healthcare system, trained healthcare staff and distribution mechanisms in place to ensure that medicines reach those who need them. In some parts of the developing world, this is a particular challenge.
AstraZeneca remains committed to making a contribution to improving healthcare in the developing world, but I believe that real progress can only be made through the commitment of all the related stakeholders, including governments, NGOs and the international community, as well as the private sector. Only by working together can sustainable improvements be achieved.
Whilst the medicines currently in AstraZeneca's range are not for treating the most significant diseases the developing world are facing today (HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria), we are applying our skills and resources to helping in other ways. Our dedicated research facility in Bangalore, India is focused on finding a new, improved treatment for TB and alongside this work, we continue to partner with NGOs and other organisations working with underserved communities to strengthen their frameworks for managing healthcare in a sustainable way. In particular, we focus on community-based projects that can be scaled up to improve outcomes for the greatest number of people.
In recent years, improved analytical techniques have identified that pharmaceutical residues from patient use are widespread in the aquatic environment. Whilst the current levels pose no significant risk to human health and will not harm aquatic life in the short term, questions are now rightly being asked about the potential long-term effects. AstraZeneca is committed to advancing research in this area, and scientists at our Brixham Environmental Laboratory in the UK are working both independently and with other companies, leading academics and regulatory bodies to improve scientific understanding of the long term impact of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Meanwhile, we continue to assess the environmental profile of all our new products, in line with regulatory requirements and are also reviewing the profiles of our marketed range. We publish the environmental data we have available on the Swedish Doctors’ Prescribing Guide website, FASS.se, using the voluntary disclosure system introduced by LIF, the Swedish pharmaceutical industry association.
AstraZeneca’s ongoing drive to improve productivity resulted in the announcement during 2007 of job reductions in some areas of our business. Implementing changes that involve the loss of loyal employees is one of the hardest tasks for a CEO and 2007 has been particularly challenging in this respect. Throughout, we have consulted fully with staff representatives and acted in line with local labour laws. We have also provided help to individuals to pursue their careers beyond AstraZeneca and have engaged with the communities around our affected sites to mitigate the local impact. The announced reductions will take time to implement and we are committed to ensuring that we continue to manage these changes in line with our core values.
Such changes can also impact overall employee engagement. I believe good leadership means staying in touch with people’s perception of what we are doing well and where we might improve. Which is why we conduct regular employee surveys to help me, and other leaders within the Company, track employee views and identify areas of concern.
Our business activities touch many people’s lives, including patients, physicians, shareholders, employees, regulators, partners, those who pay for healthcare and our local communities. Only by living up to our core values, in every decision, action and interaction with the world around us, can we maintain the trust of our stakeholders that is so vital to our reputation and our licence to do business.
Corporate responsibility is a journey not a destination. We are making progress but in the ever-changing world in which we live, we will continue to face challenges as well as opportunities for our CR, and there will always be work to do to ensure that AstraZeneca is not only valued as a source of great medicines, but trusted for the way in which we do business worldwide.
The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, February 2008 |