General disclosures

Organisational profile

GRI 102-1
Name of the organisation

Galenica Ltd.

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Activities, brands, products and services

Galenica is the leading fully integrated healthcare provider in Switzerland. The business activities of the Galenica Group comprise two segments. The Products & Care segment consists of the Service Units Pharmacies, Healthcare and Products & Marketing. They develop and market health services and products via various channels – in pharmacy stores, online and at home – to private customers and patients as well as to business customers and partners. The Logistics & IT segment consists of the Service Units Wholesale & Logistics and IT & Digital Services. They develop and operate the logistics, IT and digital infrastructure and digital platforms for the entire Galenica Group and for customers and partners in the healthcare industry.

More information on activities, brands, products and services can be found in the Management Report and on the Galenica website.

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Location of headquarters

Galenica Ltd.
Untermattweg 8
3027 Bern

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Location of operations

The Galenica Group operates exclusively in Switzerland.

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Ownership and legal form

Galenica is a corporation under Swiss law and, as a holding company, owns all the companies in the Galenica Group directly or indirectly.

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Markets served

Galenica is active in the healthcare industry and offers healthcare services and products throughout Switzerland. Its customers include patients, pharmacies, drugstores, physicians, hospitals, care homes, health insurance funds and pharmaceutical companies.

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Scale of the organisation

At the end of 2021, Galenica employed 7,239 people and the consolidated net sales of the Galenica Group amounted to CHF 3,834.7 million. Information on the capital and an overview of the operations can be found in the Financial Report.

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Information on employees and other workers

Galenica discloses further information on its staff and other employees under its key social figures. More precise information on employees by employment contract is not available, as this is not recorded in all HR systems. Most of the business activities are carried out by employees of the Galenica Group. The workforce of the Galenica Group does not undergo significant seasonal fluctuations. The data is exported from the various HR management systems and consolidated

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Supply chain

The Galenica Group value chain comprises production, packaging, logistics, marketing and information, retail trade and medication use. A description of the value chain and the economic, social and ecological impact of the Galenica Group can be found here.

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Significant changes to the organisation and its supply chain

Galenica acquired Lifestage Solutions Ltd. in 2021. Lifestage Solutions develops and operates a fully integrated digital trading platform for home care organisations and nursing homes, which simplifies daily workflows for its customers using digitalisation and state-of-the-art technology. Apodoc Hardbrücke Ltd. has also been acquired. Apodoc is an innovative pharmacy with its own medical practice on the same premises near Hardbrücke railway station in Zurich. The subsidiary Verfora also acquired 100% of the share capital of Spagyros Ltd., a successful Swiss company which produces and markets complementary medicines. Galenica has also expanded its bricks and mortar pharmacy network with 8 new pharmacies. At the same time, 6 locations were closed. There were no significant changes in the reporting year with regard to the shareholding structure and locations of suppliers.

More information can be found in the Financial Report and Corporate Governance Report.

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Precautionary principle or approach

The precautionary principle is anchored in the sustainability principles of the Galenica Group: “the respectful and efficient use of resources and reduction of negative environmental impacts”.

Galenica aims to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste and dispose of it safely. Galenica has defined specific environmental targets in order to achieve these ambitions.

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External initiatives

Programmes and initiatives

• CDP: Galenica discloses its greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on the climate as part of the CDP questionnaire. The results are published at www.cdp.net.
• GRI: Galenica is publishing its combined 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report in accordance with the GRI Standards for the first time: “Core” option.

Social commitment

As a leading player in the Swiss healthcare market, Galenica is committed at all levels to the welfare of patients. The company is also committed to supporting various social projects and charitable organisations. More information on the social commitment of the Galenica Group can be found here.

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Memberships of association

ASSGP, Association of the Swiss Self-Medication Industry
GESKES, Society for Clinical Nutrition in Switzerland
GSASA, Schweizerischer Verband der Amts- und Spitalapotheker
Helvecura Genossenschaft, Swiss Association of Public Health Administration and Hospital Pharmacists
Avenir Suisse
Medswiss.net supporting association, Swiss Umbrella Association of Physician Networks
pharmalog, Swiss Pharma Logistics Association
pharmaSuisse, Swiss Association of Pharmacists
ScienceIndustries, Business Association for Chemistry-Pharma-Biotech
Swiss Medtech, Swiss Medical Technology Association
GFH Healthcare Retailers Association
VIPS, Association of Pharmaceutical Companies in Switzerland
VSVA, Association of Swiss Mail-Order Pharmacies
Association QualiCCare, Association for the Improvement of Quality in Treatment of Chronic Diseases in Switzerland
ASTAG, Swiss Commercial Vehicle Association
Freedom Healthcare Alliance
GIRP, European Healthcare Distribution Association
HIV, Trade and Industry Association of the canton of Bern
eHealth Interest Group
SGGP, Swiss. Society for Health Policy
SMVO, Swiss Medicine Verification Organisation
SVKH, Swiss Association for Therapeutic Products in Complementary Medicine
Swissholdings, Association of Industrial and Service Groups in Switzerland
VNL Schweiz, Verein Netzwerk Logistik e.V., Logistics Network Association

Strategy

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Statement from senior decision-maker

Sustainability is an integral part of Galenica’s corporate management. Galenica is convinced that it can only achieve long-term economic success if it bears social responsibility and uses natural resources in a respectful and efficient manner. The relevance of sustainability for Galenica is explained in the foreword to the Annual Report by Chairwoman of the Board of Directors Daniela Bosshardt and CEO Marc Werner.

Ethics and integrity

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Values, principles, standards and norms of behaviour

The five key values accompany Galenica employees in all their activities and form the basis for a shared understanding of cooperation and how they treat one another.

In addition to the statutory provisions, the Galenica Group Code of Conduct sets out the ethical rules and standards that all employees must adhere to.

Governance

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Governance structure

The Executive Committee and the Board of Directors and its committees are presented in the Corporate Governance Report. The Board of Directors has ultimate responsibility for economic, ecological and social topics. Other central bodies are the Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and the Interdisciplinary Sustainability Committee. You can find more information about the sustainability organisation here.

Stakeholder engagement

GRI 102-40, GRI 102-42
List of stakeholder groups and identifying and selecting stakeholders

The stakeholders of the Galenica Group include interest groups and organisations that directly or indirectly affect – or are affected by – the company’s values, actions and performance. Galenica maintains relationships with its direct stakeholders – customers, shareholders, suppliers, scientific institutions, current and potential employees, authorities, non-governmental organisations and others – that are characterised by transparency, honesty and mutual respect. Its customers include patients, pharmacies, drugstores, physicians, hospitals, care homes, health insurance funds and pharmaceutical companies. In order to measure customer satisfaction and potential for improvement, Galenica relies on internal performance indicators as well as the results of independent target group surveys. Based on the insights gained, Galenica wants to continuously improve the customer experience and offer customers added value through new measures and offerings.

Our relations with our various suppliers are characterised by a continuous improvement process as part of quality management in all Service and Business Units. Quality, costs and prices, as well as potential innovations, are regularly discussed with suppliers and business partners. Such interactions create transparency and help to ensure that services are provided as smoothly as possible.

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Collective bargaining agreements

None of the employees of the Galenica Group are subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

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Approach to stakeholder engagement

In addition to the stakeholder engagement approaches under GRI 102-40, Galenica held meetings with representatives of external stakeholders for the first time in 2021 to review the relevance of sustainability issues and assess the impact of Galenica’s business activities on the social, ecological and economic environment. More information on the materiality process can be found under Sustainability at Galenica.

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Key topics and concerns raised

The online survey and subsequent discussions with the relevant stakeholder groups confirmed the relevance of previous sustainability issues. Patient safety and health are the key issue for Galenica from the perspective of stakeholders. With regard to employees, the stakeholders emphasised the relevance of topics such as diversity and the promotion of young talent. On the issue of compliance, some interlocutors highlighted the prominent role of Galenica in relation to competition and antitrust law owing to the size of the company. Furthermore, the stakeholders agreed that the topics of IT security and cybercrime are becoming increasingly important and that raising awareness among employees in particular is vital here. In the area of emissions and climate change, some stakeholders stressed the need to address this issue together with partners along the value chain and expressed their expectation that Galenica will set clear targets in this regard. The stakeholders were of the opinion that the circular economy, innovation and digitalisation are other aspects that Galenica should use more specifically to improve sustainability in the future.

The topics and concerns expressed by the stakeholders form a key basis for further advancing the central sustainability topics in the coming years.

Reporting practice

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Entities included in the consolidated financial statements

The entities included in the consolidated financial statements are listed in the Financial Report.

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Defining report content and topic boundaries

The Sustainability Committee has identified the ecological, social and economic sustainability issues in relation to the business model of the Galenica Group. In 2021, Galenica reviewed the relevance of the topics as part of a materiality process and defined the social, ecological and economic impact of Galenica’s business activities. Internal and external stakeholders evaluated the topics based on an online survey. In addition, interviews were held with representatives of all external stakeholder groups to discuss the evaluations. This resulted in the updated relevance matrix. The Executive Committee and the Board of Directors have approved the updated relevance matrix and classified all topics as material. These are also at the centre of sustainability reporting.

In determining the content of the sustainability reporting, Galenica has taken into account all four reporting principles: stakeholder engagement, sustainability context, materiality and completeness. For more information, please see Sustainability at Galenica.

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List of material topics

The relevance matrix shows all material topics.

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Restatements of information

In 2021, Galenica is publishing for the first time a combined annual report that includes both financial and sustainability information and data.

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Changes in reporting

In the 2021 Sustainability Report, there were no significant changes to the list of material topics and delimitations of the topics compared to the previous year.

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Reporting period

The reporting period covers 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

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Date of most recent report

The 2020 Annual Report was published on 9 March 2021. The 2020 Sustainability Report was published on 18 May 2021. And the 2021 Half Year Report was published on 3 August 2021.

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Reporting cycle

The combined Annual and Sustainability Report is published annually.

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Contact point for questions regarding the report

Investor Relations: Felix Burkhard, CFO

Media Relations: Christina Hertig, Head of Corporate Communications

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Claims of reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards

Claims of reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards

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GRI content index

The GRI content index, which lists each of the GRI Standards applied and all disclosures contained in the report, can be found here.

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External assurance

The Sustainability Report 2021 was not audited externally.