Basel, 16 September 2020 — Novartis today announced the pricing of a EUR 1.85 billion sustainability-linked bond (SLB), reinforcing its commitment to ESG principles and the 2025 Patient Access Targets announced earlier this month.
The new bond is the first of its kind in the healthcare industry and the first SLB incorporating social targets, with bondholders entitled to receive a higher amount of interest if Novartis fails to meet its targets for expanding access to its innovative medicines and addressing key global health challenges, two areas where Novartis can drive the greatest value for society.
“For decades, Novartis has worked to improve access to medicines and tackle global health challenges. We’re currently working to support global health efforts to address diseases like malaria and leprosy, to continue novel research into tropical diseases, and to ensure access to our new medicines in low- and middle-income countries,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “Today’s announcement is another important step on our journey to integrate ESG into the core of our business, measure our progress, hold ourselves accountable, and demonstrate our dedication to making good on our promise to broaden global access to our medicines.”
Globally, approximately two billion people have no access to basic medicines and healthcare1, while 100 million people are impoverished by medical expenses each year2. Weak healthcare systems in LMICs also hinder timely diagnosis and treatment. Novartis is taking bold steps to increase patient reach in LMICs with its strategic innovative therapies by at least 200% by 2025. In addition, Novartis is taking steps to increase patient reach of its global health flagship programs in leprosy, malaria, Chagas disease and sickle cell disease by at least 50% over the same time period. Novartis estimates achievement of these targets to result in a potential reach of over 24 million patients across therapy areas.
ESG is a key strategic priority for Novartis that rests on four pillars based on topics defined by stakeholders in our materiality analysis: Ethical Standards, Pricing and Access, Global Health Challenges and Responsible Citizenship3. The company has developed ambitious and challenging targets against key elements in each of these areas and has made significant progress over the past year. The SLB represents another bold step in the company’s journey to further embed ESG into the core of its business operations and to communicate progress in a consistent and transparent way. This move follows the recent launch of the new Novartis Code of Ethics, and the announcement of a new 2030 target for full carbon neutrality across the company’s entire supply chain.
Novartis has obtained two separate second-party opinions that validate the robustness and relevance of the KPIs and targets. The first one is from the Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent non-profit organization focused on access to medicine in LMICs, on the social benefits of the 2025 Patient Access Targets. The second opinion is from Sustainalytics, a consultancy organization with recognized environmental, social and governance expertise, on the social benefits of the 2025 Patient Access Targets and on the alignment of this bond to the Sustainability-linked Bond Principles, published by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA).
Novartis will provide annual reports on its performance against the KPIs underlying its 2025 Patient Access Targets, including limited assurance reports by an external verifier.
About Novartis
Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world’s top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com.
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