At AstraZeneca, we are dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and marketing of medicines that make a difference in healthcare. For us, this is at the core of our responsibility to our stakeholders and to society. Successful pharmaceutical innovation, delivered responsibly, brings benefits for patients, healthcare systems and the communities we serve.
New medicines are needed more than ever. People are living longer, populations are increasing and new markets are fast emerging. Despite significant medical advances in recent decades, there are still many diseases which are not well treated or there is not yet an effective medicine. But while the demand for better health continues to grow, our industry faces some significant challenges including patent expiries on major medicines, ever higher hurdles for R&D productivity and increasing pressure on pricing as healthcare budgets around the world feel the strain.
To succeed in this increasingly challenging environment, we need to get even better at what we do and build stronger relationships with our stakeholders. Our business strategy centres on improving R&D productivity, both through in-house enhancements and through external collaborations to speed the delivery of new medicines; on driving growth in established, emerging and new markets, and on increasingly working in partnership with our stakeholders to achieve common goals in improving healthcare. At the same time, we continue to drive efficiencies across our business, including outsourcing to a diverse range of strategic suppliers.
All of these efforts are underpinned by our commitment to being a responsible company, working with integrity and delivering sustainable business development that brings value for our stakeholders, for society and for us.
Our objectives
Our responsible business objectives are closely aligned to our strategic business priorities and so are focused on:
Research and development : Effectively underpinning our accelerated drive for innovation with sound research ethics worldwide.
Sales and marketing : Working to consistent global standards of ethical sales and marketing practice as we grow our business across established, emerging and new markets.
Patient safety : Maintaining a strong focus on patient safety in everything we do: minimising the risks and maximizing the benefits of all our medicines throughout research and development, and after launch.
Access to healthcare : As we expand our geographic footprint, exploring ways of increasing access to healthcare for more people, tailored locally to different patient needs.
Human rights : Continuing to develop and embed a consistent approach to human rights across all our activity worldwide.
Diversity & inclusion : As we continue to re-shape our organisation, working to ensure that diversity in its broadest sense is reflected in our leadership and people strategies.
The environment : Managing our impact on the environment, across all our operations, with a particular focus on carbon emissions, waste and water use.
Employee safety, health and wellbeing : Promoting the safety, health and wellbeing of all our people worldwide as we continue to drive a high performance culture and achievement of our business goals.
Community investment : Making a positive contribution to our local communities around the world, through community support programmes consistent with improving health and promoting science.
Working with suppliers : Only working with suppliers who have standards consistent with our own as we continue our outsourcing to drive business efficiency.
Making it happen
Our Code of Conduct : Underpins our commitment to integrity. It sets out our baseline rules for working with others as we drive our business forward. Supporting standards and guidelines provide more detail on how our high level commitments should be applied in practice. Compliance is mandatory – wherever AstraZeneca has a presence or an impact.
Our Responsible Business Plan : Is our road map for the sustainable development of our business. Responsible business objectives, targets and key performance indicators are agreed across the company, taking account of external stakeholder insights and internal reputational risk assessment.
Going forward
We are making progress but there will always be work to do. Expectations will continue to evolve and we need to stay in touch. We continue to engage with stakeholders and use the feedback to inform our ongoing strategy development and risk management planning.