Responsible purchasing

We seek mutually beneficial, value-for money purchasing relationships that not only benefit our company, patients and partners, but which also take into consideration our environmental and social responsibilities across the entire lifecycle of the services and materials purchased.

Responsible purchasing involves careful consideration of what UCB buys and how we buy it. Our goal is to take into account  environmental and social impacts associated with the manufacturing of the packaging constituents or the drug product:

• Transportation and logistics
• Associated emissions and other pollutants;
• End of life options, including the re-use, repair, recycling and disposal options at the end of a product’s life.

In 2010, additional contractual clauses have been introduced into new sourcing agreements with packaging providers and toll manufacturers related to respecting human rights and fair labour conditions together with health and safety conditions at work. In 2011, we aim to extend these new clauses to all collaborations with third parties.

In a continuous quest to reduce packaging and ease the handling of our products by patients, we developed a new design for the packaging of a Cimzia® device. Plastic components have been eliminated and the use of carton has been reduced by 20%. The access to drug is easier and patients have a clear view on the contents.