Pharmaceutical Industry Accelerates ESG Adoption... Switching to Eco-Friendly Materials and Establishing Dedicated Teams

Boryeong·SK Bioscience Publish First Sustainability Management Report

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The domestic pharmaceutical industry is rapidly advancing the adoption of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Large pharmaceutical and bio companies that have already implemented ESG management have announced related achievements and visions.

Boryung (formerly Boryung Pharmaceutical) published its first sustainability management report on the 15th. Last year, Boryung obtained environmental management system certification for all business sites and changed the rubber materials of the peritoneal dialysis solution 'Perripure' to recyclable materials for eco-friendly management. In December last year, it also renewed its certification for the international standard for anti-corruption management systems (ISO37001).

SK Bioscience also published its first ESG report on the 14th. The report included social performance such as improving human health through vaccine development last year, stating that it created social value (SV) worth 339.9 billion KRW. SK Bioscience plans to regularly publish ESG reports annually in both Korean and English.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which published the first CSR report in the domestic pharmaceutical industry in 2017, recently released its fifth report. Regarding EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety) management included in the report, Hanmi Pharmaceutical has recently established a dedicated team and operates a citizen disaster task force considering the strengthening of safety and health regulations such as the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

Ildong Pharmaceutical was introduced as an exemplary company in ESG management and CP (Compliance Program) operation at the '2022 CP Symposium' hosted by the Fair Trade Commission recently. Ildong Pharmaceutical has created related dedicated organizations such as an ESG management council and management team within the company, striving for environmentally friendly activities, social responsibility practices, and strengthening shareholder relations and transparency.

The reason pharmaceutical companies are strengthening ESG appears to be due to changes in the export and trade environment following the outbreak of COVID-19. As COVID-19 spread, protectionism intensified mainly in the US, EU, and China, and advanced countries have revealed strategies to strengthen regulations such as environmental standards.

Although the domestic pharmaceutical industry's ESG management is accelerating, there are evaluations that improvements are needed. According to a report published last month by the Korea Bio Association, while overseas companies are also strengthening G (Governance), most domestic companies are focusing on E (Environment) and S (Social). Overseas bio-pharmaceutical companies add new G indices annually centered on ESG evaluation agencies, reflecting factors such as female ratio and racial diversity. The report suggests that domestic companies should focus more on the governance area in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.