THE PATH TO A NEW MEDICINE |
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As a science-based company at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation, we recognise our responsibility to ensure that we effectively balance our drive to find new medicines with sound ethical practice.
Bringing a new medicine to market is a long and complex process. It can take between 10 and 15 years of research and development, involving skilled scientists and state of the art technologies.
All our research is conducted in accordance with all relevant local, national and international legislation, regulations and guidelines, as required by our Code of Conduct and our Bioethics Policy, which describes our commitment beyond legal compliance and defines the principles, behaviours and ethical standards governing all our research and development activity worldwide.
During 2008, we reviewed and strengthened our Bioethics Policy (one of our 11 Global Policies that were further developed during 2008) and targeted training is planned for 2009.
Our Science Policy and Practice Council, a cross-functional group of senior R&D leaders (including MedImmune) chaired by the Executive Vice President of Development and the Executive Vice President of Discovery, provides leadership and direction on science policy matters to ensure that we continue to have clear accountabilities throughout the organisation.
Our R&D compliance organisations work to ensure that our R&D communities worldwide understand and comply with all relevant external legislation and regulatory requirements, and with our own internal policies. This includes the implementation of ongoing programmes for continuous improvement embedded in the R&D business processes, training, auditing and monitoring and ongoing assessment of key compliance risks.
The Board’s Science Committee provides assurance to the AstraZeneca Board regarding the quality and integrity of our science-based research and development activities. As needed, this Committee also reviews, together with other external experts, important bioethics issues faced by the Company, and agrees appropriate policies on behalf of the Board.
Our commitment to high ethical standards of research and development applies not only to our R&D functions (globally and in our marketing companies), but also to supporting functions such as purchasing, business development and legal. They also apply to all third parties who conduct research and development on our behalf.
The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, February 2009.
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