Korea’s major pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies have published reports on their sustainability activities, including corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environment, social, and governance (ESG).
On Wednesday, Hanmi Pharmaceutical issued the “2021-22 CSR Report” to explain the company’s sustainability management goals and achievements based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, an international guideline for sustainability reporting.
Hanmi’s report includes sustainable innovation management activities in 2021, results of the selection of important sustainability themes, and ESG and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Korea recently enhanced industrial safety regulations by legislating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and toughening sentencing under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Accordingly, the company said Hanmi Pharmaceutical established a new safety and health team and a task force to reinforce the safety of employees and suppliers.
Woo Jong-soo, CEO of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said the drug company grew every year with an unwavering commitment to R&D and sustainable management.
“We will solidify our stance for innovative sustainable management to lead CSR and ESG in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry,” he said.
On the same day, Boryung (formerly Boryung Pharmaceutical) also announced that it had published the company’s first report on sustainability management. The report, available both in Korean and English, includes Boryung’s ESG values and performances in 2021.
Boryung’s report was based on GRI Standards and the U.S. Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). It also reflected the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidelines.
The company said that the latest report also covered materiality assessment and results of the implementation of UN-SDGs to specify Boryung’s sustainability performance.
Boryung CEO Jang Du-hyeon said, “This sustainability report is the result of actively responding to the needs of stakeholders and showing sincere efforts for ESG management.”
The company will take 2022 as the “first year of ESG management” and continue to make efforts to improve the sustainability of the company and the Korean society, he added.
SK Bioscience also issued the company’s first ESG report on Tuesday, promoting its major business activities and ESG achievements. The company plans to publish the report annually in English and Korean.
The report of SK Bioscience disclosed its “social value” (SV), measured in money as the direct and indirect contribution of the company and stakeholders to the economic, social, and environmental areas.
SK Biosciences generated 339.9 billion won SV, according to the report. More specifically, the company created 192.3 billion won in indirect contribution to the economy through business activities and 147.8 billion won in social achievement through vaccine development, promotion of human health, and the pursuit of happiness for stakeholders, the company said.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, SK Bioscience helped improve the social and health safety net through contract manufacturing of a Covid-19 vaccine and resolve health issues through various social contributions, the company said.
Pharmaceutical industry officials said the local drugmakers’ simultaneous publishing of sustainability reports is to prepare for ESG evaluation by Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS).
“A sustainability report should include a business report published in March. It takes one or two months to get the report verified by a third party,” an official at a pharmaceutical company said. “The ESG Evaluation by KCGS will start next month. To prepare for this, they released the sustainability reports.”