Navigating Proactive Sustainability in Pharma R&D and Partnering

In March, we were proud to see Florence Dal Degan, Senior Director of External Innovation, participate in a panel discussion with different stakeholders, from consulting firms, pharma companies, investors to startups at BioEurope Spring entitled “Towards a Greener Globe: Biopharma’s Path to Sustainable Futures.” Here, Florence shares her thoughts on the influence and impact of pharmaceutical companies on sustainability efforts and the importance of embedding sustainability into partnership strategies.

Sustainability isn’t an end-goal, it’s a multi-faceted journey presenting companies, and individuals, with opportunities for transformation.

“At Ipsen, we have adopted a proactive approach to sustainability with ambitious goals, and targets because we want to do more than just doing the right thing,” said Florence Dal Degan. “Our sustainability strategy is called Generation Ipsen, and we encourage each employee to contribute so our strategy should not only be a company mission, but a personal mission where each employee can contribute to, better, higher sustainability for our business.”

Generation Ipsen, launched in 2022 is anchored by four pillars —Environment, Patients, People, and Governance and aligned to the UN’s sustainable development goals, Generation Ipsen allows us to take a holistic view of what it means to be a sustainable pharmaceutical company. From ensuring that all Ipsen manufacturing facilities use 100% renewable energy to fostering a diverse workforce, with 54% of our leadership team comprising women, we take pride of the progress we are achieving on our sustainability journey.

Generation Ipsen underscores our commitment to transition from ambition to measurable objectives, and benchmarking and consistent evaluation are crucial for fair comparisons and improvement in sustainability. Without consistency, it’s hard to gauge true impact or identify areas for improvement. Introducing common KPIs aligned with regulations like the CSRD enhances reporting consistency, making continual learning and improvement easier.

Whilst we don’t claim to have all the answers, we know that a proactive, nuanced, approach to sustainability is needed to safeguard the health of our planet and people. As a global mid-sized pharmaceutical company operating across 80 countries, we understand the significance of our role and actively work to embed sustainability into all aspects of our operations, from commercial activities to R&D and manufacturing processes. Sustainability can’t be considered in silos, especially as a company whose pipeline is built exclusively on external innovation and partnerships.

As we continue on our next phase of growth as a company, we exclusively build our pipeline through external innovation. As we forge these new partnerships, we must connect our partnering and sustainability priorities to continue to take the right decisions. Bringing sustainability into the discussion as we establish our collaborations can identify shared goals and opportunities for us to improve and enhance our impact, with like-minded partners. Our teams also look for other ways to drive the sustainability agenda throughout the innovation ecosystems. We are proud to be doing this across a number of activities; for example the inclusion of sustainability assessment criteria within Ipsen’s golden ticket competition at BioLabs France, and sharing through mentoring young companies how ensuring sustainability is central to your strategy and can change the impact of your company for the better.

By embracing proactive sustainability and clear measurement across our operations, we can shape a better, healthier world.