Essential Pharma makes strong progress in its ESG performance and now exceeds sector benchmarks

Egham, UK – 19 July, 2022 – Essential Pharma, an international speciality pharma group focused on maintaining access to well-established, “at risk” products essential to patients across multiple therapeutic areas, announces strong year-on-year progress in its ESG performance, a core objective now embedded in the company’s operating culture.  

Essential Pharma is focused on meeting the growing expectations of its employees, owners, suppliers and customers by enhancing its Environmental, Social and corporate Governance (ESG) performance in areas that matter most to its business and its stakeholders. The organisation continues to strengthen its operating platform and is committed to achieving growth through sustainable practices.  

Essential Pharma is therefore pleased to announce that, in a report by the independent advisory firm Apex ESG Ratings and Advisory, the company has seen a strong improvement in all areas of its ESG performance over the past year. 

The company now exceeds the sector benchmark for its overall ESG rating and for all three measures – Environmental, Social and Governance – based on the findings from this latest report. This builds on previous progress in instituting policies, oversight mechanisms, and information systems as part of the robust governance that is integral to the company’s business success. 

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of more than 300 individual data points benchmarked against healthcare sector peers. Over the last twelve months, Essential Pharma has made significant progress with the introduction of the company’s new environmental policy and increased emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company achieved strong scores for human capital management including workforce health, safety and well-being, as well as strengthened corporate governance and business conduct. 

Chief Operating Officer, Colin Brown, commented: “We are pleased to have made such rapid progress in meeting, and in some cases exceeding, our ESG targets for the last twelve months. The emphasis on ESG topics across our business continues to increase and we have mapped out even more ambitious targets for the years ahead. This ESG infrastructure is designed to ensure that our company grows sustainably and that we achieve our commercial targets responsibly. In parallel with our commitment to vulnerable patients to maintain continuity of supply of their essential medicines, Essential Pharma is focused on ensuring we have a positive impact on the planet, society and our employees. It is a strategic objective that we maintain Essential Pharma’s positive ESG momentum and position the company as a frontrunner in responsibility and sustainability.” 

With its commitment to embedding ESG best practices into its organisational, governance and compliance frameworks, the company is working to further improve its performance in the coming year through the introduction of new initiatives, including a Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Menopause Policy to provide enhanced support to employees and their managers.