The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly highlighted the central role held by the Galenica Group in the Swiss healthcare market as the first port of call for advice on health matters and in supplying the population with medicines. Since November 2020, the first few Galenica pharmacies have been offering coronavirus rapid antigen tests as well as PCR tests, thus making an important contribution to overcoming the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, coronavirus self-tests have been available at pharmacies since April 2021 and Amavita, Sun Store and Coop Vitality pharmacies are able to offer COVID-19 vaccinations in several cantons.

The Bichsel Group ramped up its production capacities for infusion and rinsing solutions and also disinfectants by organising additional shifts and has been classified by the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) as a systemically important company. The logistics companies Alloga, Galexis and Unione Farmaceutica Distribuzione (UFD) have also made every effort to minimise supply bottlenecks.

Renovation and modernisation of the Galexis distribution centre

Reducing the CO2 intensity and boosting energy efficiency are important goals in renovating and modernising the Galexis distribution centre in Lausanne-Ecublens. The first phase of the conversion work entailing the renovation of all buildings and roofs got underway in 2020. In addition, there are plans to put a photovoltaic system into operation. The renovations form part of the targets agreed with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), compliance with which makes it possible to apply for reimbursement of the CO2 levy on fossil fuels or request subsidies for implementing the related measures.

New sustainability topics identified

In 2020, Galenica reviewed its priorities and ambitions in relation to sustainability, identifying three new topics: retention of qualified employees, IT security and cybercrime, procurement and supply-chain reliability. Galenica's relevance matrix now comprises thirteen topics, twelve of which have been classified as material. These topics form the core of the sustainability report for 2020.

Outlook for 2021

Under the Galenica Group's new organisational and management structure, which came into effect in January 2021, the Sustainability Committee was also given a new composition. The Committee will be developing internal goals and parameters for all relevant topics of sustainability. Talks are also planned in 2021 with representatives of external stakeholders such as suppliers, customers and partners in order to review the relevance of the key topics. In addition, the positive and negative impact that Galenica's business operations have on the economy, the environment and society will be evaluated for each topic of sustainability.

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Galenica AG published this content on 18 May 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 May 2021 05:08:03 UTC.