delivering transformative innovation, embracing operational excellence, and going big on data and digital.)


One of the ESG key performance indicators (KPIs) is based upon Novartis reaching carbon neutrality across its entire supply chain by 2030. In November 2020, the company signed five virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) with three developers – Acciona SA, EDP Renewables and Enel Green Power – to add more than 275 megawatts of clean power to the electrical grid, which will be produced by six new wind and solar projects located in Spain.6 This move means that Novartis is set to be the first pharmaceutical company to achieve 100% renewable electricity in its European operations through VPPAs.


Reimagining medicine These KPIs are aligned with Novartis’s vision of “reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives”. As a leading global medicines company, it uses innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need.


For the SLB, Novartis chose two KPIs – reaching more patients with its flagship programmes, and improving access to innovative therapies in LMICs – that are based on its 2025 patient access targets


and are key parts of the aim to reach patients in various demographics and geographic areas (see Figure 1 on page 83). The flagship programme target builds on Novartis’s approach to transforming health in lower-income populations by addressing major, unresolved global health challenges. Novartis is researching and developing a portfolio of drug candidates for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases that afflict around 1.6 billion people worldwide, as well as for sickle cell disease.


This flagship programme KPI reflects the approach to healthcare that Novartis adopts in its core business. For example, the company is using remote diagnostics and mobile phones to detect, prevent and treat the rising number of cases of leprosy in the Philippines in communities that are often hard to access. The detection system enables frontline healthcare providers to send images of suspected leprosy lesions and symptoms to a specialist via SMS or an app.7


The company is also investigating


the role of the P-selectin protein in sickle cell disease, developing innovative new medicines to treat the disease, and working to expand people’s access to diagnosis and treatment.


Bohr describes how the approval process for medicines in certain regions adds a layer of complexity and risk to the bond’s KPIs.


“Pharma companies such as Novartis need to get the drugs approved in these countries and work with local insurance companies, health ministries and non-profits to familiarise doctors with the product so that they can prescribe and administer them.”


Novartis’s second KPI is designed to address unequal access to the latest medicines. This challenge has come into sharp focus since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the affordability of vaccines affecting LMICs’ ability to access them. Local regulations and weak healthcare systems in certain countries may also impede the approval and distribution of such medicines.


Novartis picked social sustainability performance targets that are core to its business as a medicines company


Bernd Bohr, Partner, Mayer Brown


Novartis is set to be the first pharmaceutical company to achieve 100% renewable electricity in its European operations through VPPAs


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Images: Alamy


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