Bristol Myers Squibb Releases 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Demonstrating Progress and Setting New Long-Term Goals
Company builds on its strengths to advance patient access, product innovation, culture and inclusion and diversity
Originally published on Bristol Myers Squibb News & Perspectives
PRINCETON, N.J., April 2, 2024 /3BL/-- Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today published its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report detailing the company’s meaningful progress, evolved strategy, and aspirational goals toward its ESG efforts. The company’s ESG strategy is embedded in its mission to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.
“For more than 130 years, BMS has enabled positive change for our patients around the world. As we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, our ESG strategy has never been more important to driving long-term business value and fulfilling our purpose,” said Christopher Boerner, Ph.D., Board Chair & Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We recognize ESG is a journey of continuous improvement, and our entire team is committed to advancing sustainability.”
In 2023, BMS conducted a global ESG materiality assessment to understand evolving stakeholder views and ensure its business priorities reflect the rapidly changing landscape. These insights enabled the company to evolve its ESG strategy, focusing on three key pillars: advancing patient health around the world; expanding the boundaries of science; and fostering a high-performing and inclusive global workforce. At the same time, BMS will continue to amplify its strong performance across material topics such as patient safety and product quality, ethics and conduct, as well as environmental sustainability.
Highlights from the ESG Report:
Advancing Patient Health Around the World
- Advanced tailored access programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to help improve access to BMS’ innovative portfolio. Through new pathways, BMS has expanded access to 12 transformative products for patients across more than 80 LMICs. We have established an aspirational goal that 100% of late-stage assets will have access plans in 2024 and a commitment to reach more than 208,000 patients in LMICs by 2033.
- Progressed health equity efforts through 277 grants and donations, totaling $19.4M.
Expanding the Boundaries of Science
- Made clinical trials more accessible to underrepresented groups, by embedding 58% of U.S. clinical trial sites in racially and ethnically diverse metro areas of the U.S., surpassing its initial goal of 25% set in 2020.
- Worked to ensure research efforts better reflect patient populations, BMS exceeded goals for racially diverse clinical trial participants in the U.S. with 26% vs. target 20%; achieved 23% ethnically diverse patients, exceeding goal of 18%. Moving forward, BMS is focused on increasing the percentage of racially and ethnically diverse patients enrolled in clinical trials globally across key indications, including Lupus, Multiple Myeloma, Pulmonary Fibrosis and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Inclusive Global Workforce: Inclusion, Diversity and Culture
- Sustained workforce representation: 47.4% of employees at the executive level are female.
- Increased community engagement: BMS employees logged nearly 9,000 volunteer hours worldwide in 2023 to help improve the communities where they live and work.
Sustaining Our Planet and Improving Health: Climate and Environment
- Advanced climate action goals: In 2023, BMS published its inaugural Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report and submitted science-based targets to the Science Based Targets initiative for external validation.
- Increased renewable energy footprint: In November 2023, BMS announced a second 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with National Grid Renewables for 145 megawatts of solar at the Texas-based Blevins Solar Project in line with its 2030 goal of 100% purchased electricity from renewable sources.
Ethics and Conduct: Operating with Integrity
- Incorporated new ESG metrics into the executive compensation program, measuring achievement against environmental and social goals and better aligning executive bonuses with company strategy.
- Advanced data privacy and cybersecurity efforts: In 2023, BMS developed the Next-Generation Privacy Program focused on ensuring broad global market coverage, accountability for decision rights and privacy ownership, and data inventories, which will be implemented in early 2024.
- Established Principles for Responsible Artificial Intelligence: BMS defined and published ethical standards and practical requirements for the development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence.
Click here for BMS’ full 2023 ESG Report.
About Bristol Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding, among other things, the Company’s goals, strategies, and performance in accordance with its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect Bristol Myers Squibb’s business and market, particularly those identified in the cautionary statement and risk factors discussion in Bristol Myers Squibb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as updated by our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and except as otherwise required by applicable law, Bristol Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
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