Sanofi launches higher impact corporate social responsibility strategy

Pharma News: In an effort to increase its social responsibility, Sanofi launches a non-profit unit that will increase access of essential medicines to some of the poorest countries in the world.

“The pandemic has forced us to question nearly every aspect of our lives: how we live and work, and how we connect with our communities and the planet. Yet as challenging as 2020 was, it also brought us – Sanofi and the pharmaceutical industry – closer to our purpose than at any other time in living memory,” said Sanofi’s CEO Paul Hudson. 

“This unique context led us to elevate our ambition for our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy and embed it even more into our mission to transform lives and our vision for a better future.”

The company’s CSR strategy is based on four pillars where Sanofi believes it is positioned to make a difference. Those pillars are access to medicines, support for vulnerable communities, preservation of the environment and inclusion and diversity of its employees.

The Sanofi non-profit aims to increase access to medicines that are considered essential by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to 40 low-income countries. Among those medicines are 30 made by Sanofi that are used in numerous therapeutic areas. Sanofi will also finance the training of healthcare professionals or the development of sustainable care systems for those who suffer from chronic diseases and require complex care, the company said.

In December, Sanofi renewed its five-year partnership with WHO to fight neglected tropical diseases that affect approximately one billion people.

Additionally, Sanofi said it is committed to helping 1,000 rare disease patients who have no access to treatments. The company will donate 100,000 vials of medicine for their treatments each year.

The company is also amplifying its actions to further improve the environmental footprint of its products and activities. To reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and contribute to better resource conservation, Sanofi plans to remove all pre-formed plastic packaging (blister packs) for its vaccines by 2027. The company is also committed to eco-designing all its new products by 2025.

“Throughout this pandemic, public authorities, scientists, and industry have worked closely together to discover and produce vaccines at a pace that has defied historical precedent. We now have to apply this same sense of urgency to other pressing threats, such as climate change, and issues that the pandemic has sharply put into focus, including widening racial and healthcare inequalities. Let’s always remember that crises do not just neatly follow one after the other, they stack up. At Sanofi, we know we can do more,” said Mr Hudson.