Environmental, social and governance (ESG)
Our initiatives
At Axplora, our environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives are essential to our company strategy. Through our ESG program, which coordinates and amplifies our actions, we focus on developing Axplora’s sustainability and attractiveness to our stakeholders, including our employees, customers, and investors. We remain attentive to their evolving expectations and continually adapt to meet these goals.
Based on our sector’s priority issues – health, safety, and climate change – we have clarified our ambitions and defined the following major areas for action to be implemented and monitored at our industrial production sites: the safety goal of zero accidents and a commitment to effectively reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through targeted decarbonization actions in Axplora’s production processes.
Françoise Durand-Rivoire, Global Head of ESG
“For me, the challenges around environmental, social and corporate governance are, first and foremost, about ensuring the sustainability of the group while limiting our impact on ecosystems. At the same time, we are continually developing Axplora’s attractiveness for our stakeholders, our employees, our customers and our investors – all of which support the development of patient care.”
Health and Safety
As a part of the pharmaceutical value chain, it is our responsibility to ensure the safety of people in and around our industrial sites and to respect our environment as well as our neighbors. We track specific safety indicators at our sites, such as the total number of accidents that result in lost time for employees (“TF1”) and accidents without lost time (“TF2”). In 2022 we recorded a 13% decrease in TF1 and a 10% decrease in TF2 compared to 2021. Initiatives such as professional development courses, QHSE days, and gemba walks* are part of the ongoing actions that we organize at our production sites with the “zero accident” objective in mind.
*Industrial site walk-through visits by internal managers to identify problems and deviations, according to a set of rules and good practices that ensure safety measures.
Climate Change & Energy Management
As a leading API partner, we are focused on reducing our GHG emissions and the impact of our operations on the planet, in terms of both climate and biodiversity. To support our environmental and energy goals, we have made two commitments by choosing:
- Renewable energies and the continuous improvement of energy consumption
- Innovative green processes and technologies that allow us to reduce our environmental impact, such as continuous flow chemistry
One of the actions already in place is making a positive change for our planet – 60% of the Group’s total electricity consumption is renewable.
Waste Management
As a manufacturer of APIs, we pay close attention to reducing the amount of waste we produce, as well as improving the recycling and reuse of our resources to support an efficient, circular economy. One example is the 99.97% solvent recycling rate at our omega-3 purification plant at the Mourenx site.
Water Management
Axplora is committed to reducing our water consumption and preserving water quality. Our water management policy defines our main commitments:
- Optimizing total water consumption
- Regular monitoring of water quality
Diversity & Inclusion
Axplora supports social inclusion by taking into account the principle of equity. Applicants and employees must therefore receive fair treatment in hiring, in contract and working conditions, and staff training and career development. At Axplora, we believe that talent diversity is a strength conducive to creativity. We recruit employees from a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels, from interns and students in training to senior profiles with extensive experience. Multidirectional knowledge exchange is an integral part of how we work. Employees are at the heart of what we do, with adapted training plans to support their professional development.
In 2022, 24% of Axplora’s employees were women, and 31% held management positions.
The average gender index from 2022 (calculated for our French sites) indicates a strong trend towards parity and equal treatment between genders.
Our employees also represent diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds (Germany, France, India, Italy, USA, and many more) and Axplora’s extended Executive Committee represents nine different nationalities.
Inclusion and diversity are top priorities for Axplora’s CEO, Dr. Sylke Hassel. In her remarks during the “Women in Science” roundtable in March 2023, she shared her ideas about the impact of women in the industry, alongside the women who are renowned scientists in the pharmaceutical industry.
To join one of Axplora teams, start by checking out our job offers.
Sustainable supplier management
Our purpose is defined by our role within the pharmaceutical supply chain which ensures the well-being of patients. Axplora is committed to a sustainable relationship of trust with our partners to secure our purchases and comply with environmental, social, and corporate governance standards with our suppliers.