About Us

Sustainability

Sustainability is very important to us: in minimising the impacts of our operations on the environment, looking after our people and communities, and in helping to make society a more humane place.  

Operating in emerging markets, we are in a unique position to deliver high-quality medicines to patients most in need.

Explore how we embed Environmental, Social and Governance action into our business decisions and practices.

Download our Sustainability Report

Reducing our energy use and our emissions

We want to ensure sustainable growth through firm Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission reduction commitments. We have a clear ambition to reduce our overall energy use, thereby reducing our carbon emissions. We are committed to being environmentally
conscious and revise our processes in terms of energy usage, CO2 emissions and waste while ensuring safety and regulatory compliance.

We are committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and we are taking appropriate steps and measures to get there. We have undertaken an external energy audit to identify opportunities for savings and have started a project to identify sustainable transportation.

We will set near-term and long-term goals to align with this outcome and we want to follow best practice in emissions reduction in line with validated climate science.

  • 21.9%

    of our Scope 1 + 2 emissions come from purchased electricity and heating

  • 9,360.70

    tCO2e Gross Scope 1 + 2 (location-based) emissions

Environmental management

As a pharmaceutical company, we realise that our production processes and operations have an impact on the environment, and we are committed to minimise these impacts through positive action.

Our Global Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Policy and the EHS & Corporate Social Responsibility Standard set out our commitments for environmental management. The policy and the standard commit us to responsible conduct in all our business operations. Our environmental commitments form an integral part of our general management.

We aim to protect the environment wherever we operate and safeguard the communities from unacceptable levels of environmental risk.

Managing our waste and water

We apply sound environmental practices in the way we operate, and we are committed to reducing the volume of waste generated through efficient and focused waste management practices.

Within the next years, we aim to obtain ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems certification for all our manufacturing sites, as we currently have in place in our facility in Kyiv, Ukraine. Each manufacturing site has its dedicated department that is responsible for managing environmental issues, and the global Environment Health and Safety (EHS) functions performs an annual audit. Each site has its own EHS regulations register to monitor environmental compliance.

We are committed to a continuous improvement process and look at qualitative analysis and industry best-practice for ways to reduce our waste. Environmental compliance training is mandatory for all our employees and environment is a major topic during our annual Acino Compliance Day.

Working with suppliers

We rely on a wide network of suppliers to support the delivery of our products and services to our customers. In 2022, we worked with more than 1000 suppliers.

We aim to nurture mutually beneficial relationships and we strive to seek out suppliers who share our values. Fundamentally, we believe this is the right way to do business and to grow our portfolio of products and services responsibly and sustainably.

We use our Supplier Code of Conduct to set out the standards of corporate governance and sustainability that we expect from our suppliers. We integrate these sustainability criteria in the selection, onboarding, and ongoing management of our suppliers.

We actively engage with our supply chain through an ongoing supplier engagement programme.

  • 100%

    of all our new suppliers have been evaluated according to EHS and CSR Criteria

  • 23

    new suppliers were assessed in 2022

  • 6

    CSR - ESH on-site audits were made

Acino is a full member of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI)

Together with other pharmaceutical companies we define, establish and promote best practice in responsible supply chain management, human rights, environmental sustainability, and responsible business. Through the PSCI, we work together to set industry standards, promote consistency in supplier evaluation and build capacity in our supply.

Our employees

We recognise that the long-term success of our company depends on our employees, and we are committed to providing a good place to work for our teams. We operate with a ‘hands-on’ mentality, short communications channels, and quick decision-making.

Our incredible growth over the last years has seen the company’s diversity increase, with each new hire bringing fresh perspectives and ideas shaping who we are today.

  • 3'087

    employees globally

  • 463

    new hires in 2023

  • 12.4%

    year-to-date turnover rate

Diversity and inclusion

We operate an inclusive workplace across all our operations that allows us to benefit from different perspectives and draw from the widest possible pool of talent. Our diversity and inclusion agenda reflects the needs and issues of the communities in which we operate.

While we grow rapidly, our goal is to continue to build an innovative, great, and inclusive place to work.

Download our sustainability report for further employee data.

  • 49%

    of our employees are females globally

  • Level 1 B-BBEE

    achieved in South Africa for the fourth consecutive year

Training and development

With a clear focus on selected markets in the Middle East, Africa, the CIS region, and Latin America, we are operating in some of the most dynamic countries of the world. To support our growth in these areas, we need to attract and retain a high-performing workforce.

A key part of this is investing in the training and development of our people. We invest heavily in training our teams and the training programme is a mix of internal and external courses and other learning content. We support employees to attend external instructor-led training courses.

We seek to empower youth through our programmes by providing educational and professional development opportunities, for example through our Young Graduate and internship programmes.

Acino encourages a learning culture across the entire organisation, and this includes compliance training, industry knowledge-based education and more advanced skill-based and performance-driven training.

  • 4 hours

    of mandatory training for new employees on average

  • 5,586

    total hours of mandatory training refresh

Health and safety

We provide a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees, and we continuously strive to improve workplace safety as well as employee awareness and behaviour.

The Global EHS & Corporate Social Responsibility Standard sets out our commitments to manage and safeguard the health and safety of our employees, contractors and any others who may be affected by our activities.

EHS is an integral part of general management in Acino. Each production site has its dedicated department responsible for managing health and safety issues and the Global EHS team perform annual audits. Each production site has its own EHS regulations register to monitor health and safety compliance.

  • 0

    rate of fatalities as a result of work-related injury per million hours worked

  • 0

    cases of recordable work-related ill health

  • 8

    recordable work injuries in 2022

  • 1.8

    rate of recordable work-related injury per million hours worked

Community engagement

We  engage with our local communities through support programmes and volunteering activities.

We act as a partner for many conferences and specialised events in the pharmaceutical industry, organise educational programmes for healthcare specialists, and create our own patient projects or local partner initiatives.

We encourage employee engagement with charities and local community initiatives. We value the dual impact of supporting a good cause and enabling employees to connect outside the office environment, through initiatives focusing on fundraising and giving time and skills for volunteering activities.

Business ethics and Code of Conduct

Ethics, integrity, and trust are at the heart of how we operate, internally and in interacting with our customers, partners, and suppliers. These values are central to our business strategy and our business proposition, and we believe they strengthen our competitive advantage.

Our Code of Conduct sets strict guidelines for our business practices and articulates the standards for our ethical conduct across all markets. It provides guidelines for our behaviour that all our employees must follow, including the prevention of corruption, bribery and fraud.

We have a multi-faceted Compliance Management Programme which ensures adherence to standards. This covers leadership and communication, policies and procedures including review, approvals, and documentation of high-risk interactions, monitoring and internal audit, risk assessment, due diligence of third-party intermediaries, reporting and investigation.

The responsibility for compliance with the standards rests with the Global Integrity and Compliance function as well as Compliance Committees at both global and regional level. All staff are required to complete annual training on the Code of Conduct.

We have a strict compliance training programme which includes mandatory training for all employees on anti-bribery and anti-corruption, and data protection and data privacy.

  • 2, 681

    employees that have followed mandatory compliance training

  • 99%

    average completion for entire Acino Group

Anti-bribery and anti-corruption

Acino is committed to enforcing compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws in all areas we operate.

We have zero tolerance to bribery and corruption.

We expect all our employees, and any agencies acting on our behalf, to observe our ethics and compliance policies. Our standards are set out in our Code of Conduct as well as in our Global Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy (Global ABAC Policy). All employees must comply with the anti-bribery and anti-corruption legislation and avoid all forms of corruption.

As part of our compliance programme, employees complete annual mandatory anti-bribery and anti-corruption training.

 

  • 2,516

    employees that have received training on anti-corruption. Our goal is to train 100% of the employee involved with third parties.

Data privacy and cybersecurity

Whenever a customer chooses to do business with Acino, they trust us to process confidential business and personal data. To protect this information, we have implemented a robust data privacy and cybersecurity framework, including a Data Protection Policy, a Data Breach Management system, and a Data Subject Access Request management system.

We follow the principles as reflected in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or regional privacy legislation if this is stricter. All global IT procedures follow the Data Security and Integrity standards as defined in the best practice guide for Eudralex, the collection of rules and regulations governing medicinal products in the EU.

We are committed to protecting personal data belonging to individuals such as our employees, partners, and customers.

We continue to invest in state-of-the-art technology and our IT function plays a crucial role to ensure our security remains resilient against ever-evolving cyber threats.

Human rights in the supply chain

We are committed to upholding fundamental human rights in our supply chain and require all suppliers to comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct which sets out standards on conduct and behaviour.

Our Supplier Code is based on the standards set by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative and other international standards, in addition to the Acino Code of Conduct.

In complying with the standards of the Supplier Code and by replicating them in their own supply chains, suppliers commit to conducting business in a responsible manner and continuously strive to improve their business practices.

We condemn slavery or human trafficking, or any child labour and young workers in our supply chain. Suppliers are required to provide fair treatment to workers, ensure fair wages and working hours, and allow freedom of association.

  • Everyone who works for Acino

    benefits from a working environment in which their fundamental rights and freedoms are respected

Whistle blowing procedure

At Acino, we promote a speak-up culture and have established several channels for reporting perceived misconduct (line manager, HR (regional or global), Compliance team (regional or global), Legal team (regional or global), Speak-up Line). We encourage employees to raise concerns or suspected breaches of Acino policies or applicable law and it is important that raising a concern is as easy as possible.

We have established a Speak-Up Line that allows employees as well as external stakeholders to report any concerns on an on-line platform. The Speak-Up Line is available 24/7 and is published on the intranet as well as the corporate website. Reports can be submitted anonymously, and there is functionality to allow for anonymous follow-up communication.

All Speak-Up reports are reviewed by the Global Compliance team (the Global Head of Integrity and Compliance and/or the Chief Legal & Integrity and Compliance Officer). In 2022, there were 44 reports within the Acino Group. All cases were responded to and the majority have been closed.

  • 100%

    Speak up reports have been responded to

Speak Up In Acino

Acino is committed to high ethical standards and always acting in compliance with applicable law. Link below to our online Speak-Up platform to make a report or ask a question regarding any compliance, ethics, environmental, health, safety, social, governance, human rights, or related topic.

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