Reliable parameters and social acceptance of its corporate targets provide Siegfried with a stable environment for success also in its long-term activities. 

Remaining in dialog with society, politics and governments is a part of sustainable corporate management and allows us to find viable solutions. This dialog is subject to Siegfried’s entrepreneurial principles and based on the values of honesty and objectivity. 

Exchange with political bodies and political decision makers serves to maintain good parameters for the industry in general and, in particular, for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. We are committed to a competitive location, an innovative environment as the basis for research and development, and an outstanding educational system in the vocational and academic areas. Free market access on a global basis is of great significance for Siegfried.

Siegfried’s responsibility goes beyond the immediate influence of the company. Within our scope of possibilities, we contribute to a sustainable development of society.

As a responsible economic force and employer, Siegfried is committed socially, culturally, and in sports across Switzerland, and in particular in the Zofingen/Aargau region. For example, the company sponsors:

• Social/civic projects in Switzerland
• Political activities of our employees (through flexible work hours)
• Regional cultural and sports organizations
• Youth-oriented projects
  
  

All our engagements are always made in accordance with our policy on donations and sponsorships.

Siegfried is in a long-term business and therefore is interested in having a good long-term relation with its stakeholders. Siegfried aims at cooperative and sustainable long-term relationships with the local tax authorities.

Siegfried respects the local tax legislation and administrative practise in the countries where it is doing business and is liable to taxation. It is committed to be a good corporate fiscal citizen and to be recognised as such. 

Consistency with applicable laws, administrative practices and Siegfried's business model as well as sustainability are very important for Siegfried and enhance its reputation in the area of taxes. 

Local subsidiaries are responsible that their business activities comply with all local tax laws, regulations, and disclosure requirements. They ensure that Siegfried acts responsi-bly within the various national jurisdictions and makes full disclosure in tax returns, re-ports, and documents submitted. All tax positions and transactions are aligned with our real commercial and economic activity. 

Siegfried ensures cooperation with all tax authorities and other relevant bodies in a pro-active, open, honest, and transparent way. We maintain and follow a strict transfer pric-ing policy, based on the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project deliverables. Furthermore, Siegfried files a country-by-country report to the Swiss Tax Administration, which contains aggregated tax informa-tion per country relating to the global allocation of income, the taxes paid, and certain other indicators.

Siegfried is fully committed to support the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights as defined in (i) the UN-Global Compact and (ii) the International Labour Organization (ILO) policies and recommendations. 

At Siegfried, diversity, inclusion and equality are an integral element of our core value «Integrity». We value and treat everyone equally regardless of gender, ethnicity, cultural and social backgrounds, private preferences, tenure, language, professional and industry backgrounds, geographical experience and expertise, personal characteristics, confession and diversity of thoughts.

Equality of women and men

As an employer, Siegfried promotes equality of women and men. Analyses that were carried out at all Siegfried sites have not resulted in any statistically relevant discrimination based on gender-specific characteristics.

At our site in St. Vulbas (FR), the professional equality index was surveyed. Click here for the result.

Siegfried’s Board of Directors and the ExeCom are firmly convinced that strict adherence to all applicable laws and strict rejection of all forms of unfair and unethical business behavior should be essential and central elements of Siegfried’s business conduct. Therefore, in all of our business activities, we aim to comply with the high standards concerning performance and corporate responsibility.

Siegfried’s employees and suppliers must be kept informed concerning legal regulations relating to them, and they undertake to act, at all times, in compliance with applicable law, ethical standards and a sense of responsibility. The purpose of the Program concerning compliance with legal regulations, which was comprehensibly revised and implemented globally in 2016, is to raise awareness and to harmonize the understanding within Siegfried of lawful conduct in business dealings. The Program specifies measures that will effectively and efficiently prevent violations of the law and their harmful consequences and penalties for such violations. The Legal Compliance Office coordinates implementation and communication of the program and aims to continuously improve the Program in accordance with current industry standards.

Competition
Siegfried stands for a fair competitive environment. To prevent corruption and price fixing, Siegfried trains its sales teams in fair competitive practices. Currently there are no pending suits concerning anti-competitive practices, cartel or monopolistic activities. 

Human Rights and Labor Practices
Siegfried takes a clear stand against child labor and human rights violations of any kind. 

Siegfried Holding AG and its affiliated companies support the goals of the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 and strive to be examples of good human rights and labor practices in the field of pharmaceutical contract manufacturing. Siegfried's ethic principles and our understanding of GMP allow no compromise with respect to human rights and especially slavery and human trafficking.

For more information, please see our Commitment to Human Rights and Labor Standards.

Commitment to quality is the backbone to Siegfried’s corporate policy. Hence, the management is devoted to continuously improve all processes and activities across the company.

Inspections and Audits

Open and continuous communication with the authorities, customers and suppliers is essential for a well-functioning cooperation. Results of customer audits and of inspections by the authorities make Siegfried’s performance and capabilities transparent. As is typical in the pharmaceutical industry, all of Siegfried’s sites are being monitored constantly. A difference is made between inspections (authorities), audits (by customers or by Siegfried at suppliers) and internal audits.

As a rule, inspections by the authorities are carried out

• In the USA by the Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) and for narcotics by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• In Switzerland by Swissmedic which in turn delegates the inspection to the“Regionales Heilmittelinspektorat Nordwestschweiz” (RHI) and by the US-FDA
• In Malta by the Medicines Authority Malta (MAM) and the US-FDA
• In Germany by the regional councils and the US-FDA
• In France by the national French authority (ANSM) and the US-FDA

Quality Assurance 

• Ensuring Siegfried’s quality policy with respect to guidelines in the areas of cGMP, ICH, EU-GMP, 21 CFR, ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001, as well as internal quality requirements
• Testing and approval of manufacturing guidelines, test methods and specifications
• Testing and approval of changes
• Registration and evaluation of examination reports for internal complaints, as well as any deviations in GMP-related tasks and processes
• Examination of the complete batch documentation
• Release of interim products, pharmaceutical actives, clinical trial materials and dosage forms
• Processing of quality-related customer requests and examining customer complaints
• Periodic monitoring of product quality through the creation of annual product and quality reports
• Supervision of the technical aspects of chemical and pharmaceutical registration documents
• Organization-wide monitoring with respect to quality improvements

Sustainability in the Supply Chain
Maintaining sustainability standards in the delivery chain represents an elementary value adding factor and, at the same time, an important lever in the implementation of our “Code of Business Conduct” and for risk minimization. Securing sustainability along the entire delivery chain requires joint efforts and orientation toward long-term and value-oriented action. We are convinced that sustainability in the delivery chain can be obtained only by means of unambiguous rules concerning choice and qualification of our suppliers and in close cooperation with established suppliers. We consider the cooperation with our suppliers to be an opportunity to integrate sustainability into the entire value-added process. Our suppliers play a decisive part in our sustainability performance, and that is why cooperation with them has to be based on principles that we share.

Cooperation with Suppliers
Audits are carried out periodically at the suppliers’ locations. In terms of these audits, Siegfried monitors the social and ecological effects along the value-added chain and identifies potential risks, which Siegfried addresses and from which measures are deduced. Non-compliance with minimum standards will result in a delivery block or change of supplier.

Distribution
In distribution, our aim is to offer our customers high-quality products and services and build up long-term relationships with them. Distribution at Siegfried is strictly regulated and subject to relevant laws. The group-wide Code of Conduct makes no allowance for violation of the law and requires strict adherence to anti-corruption guidelines and antitrust legislation.

Qualification of Suppliers and Service Providers
Often, raw materials, pharmaceutical auxiliaries, packaging material, API components and occasionally APIs are purchased by manufacturers and suppliers abroad to be used by Siegfried. In such cases, Siegfried is responsible for qualifying these manufacturers and suppliers, and we therefore make use of an audit system to carry out qualification in accordance with applicable quality standards.

Quality Requirements and Quality Certificates
Triggered by a rising quality awareness, and consequently higher demands made on quality on the customer side, the number of inspections and certificates / statements required from the pharmaceutical industry is growing steadily, often due to accidents, counterfeiting and sub-standard mixtures. Today, in addition to analysis certificates, which have been required for a long time, concerning appearance, purity, content, physical characteristics and GMP-conform production of our products, customers and regulatory authorities today require data and certificates concerning genotoxic impurities, freedom of heparin adulteration, freedom of hidden genetically modified parts including TSE / BSE, melamine, benzene, etc. Siegfried works in close cooperation with the US-FDA concerning product piracy in order to combat counterfeiting and to safeguard consumer safety.

Good Distribution Practice (GDP)
Good Distribution Practice (GDP) is a topic that has gained significance since the introduction of new international guidelines in 2013. The aim is to ensure that the entire supply chain of materials from manufacturers / suppliers to Siegfried, and from Siegfried to our customers is safeguarded against incorrect transportation and storage conditions as well as fraudulent attempts at counterfeiting.

The production of active pharmaceutical ingredients is energy intensive because, as a rule, it embraces several chemical stages. Moreover, some syntheses are sometimes carried out at either very high or very low temperatures. Both cases require a considerable amount of energy. Many of the initial products required for the production of drugs are petrochemical products. As Siegfried relies on petrochemical products, we show an interest in handling natural resources with consideration. That is one aspect; another is that the company and its employees are highly interested in containing the negative effects of global climate warming. We make an active contribution to this goal by returning waste material to the internal materials cycle.

The identification, assessment and management of climate-related risks forms and integral part of Siegfried Risk Management System. Together with strategic, operational, financial and external risks, climate-related risks are one of five pillars of Siegfried's Risk Management, and as such regularly assessed and monitored during Siegfried's annual risk management process (for further details, see "Governance / Risk Management").

In addition, Siegfried is committed to following the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In line with said recommendations, a comprehensive analysis of Siegfried's main climate-related risks and opportunities was conducted in 2022. 

The assessment was done in a two-staggered approach: In a first phase, the broad feedback of the organization (i.e. risk owners of the senior and mid-level management) was collected by means of a comprehensive questionnaire. In a second phase, the Sustainability Board assessed and consolidated the data collected in order to establish a specific heat map and register of climate-related risk and opportunities as a basis for future monitoring and potential mitigation actions. The climate-related risk register is subject to the review and approval both of the Extended Executive Committee as well as the relevant bodies on the level of the Board of Directors. 

In line with TCDF, Siegfried divided its climate-related risks into two major categories: 

• Transition Risks: Transitioning to a lower-carbon economy may entail extensive policy, legal, technology, and market changes to address adaptation requirements related to climate change. Depending on the nature, speed, and focus of these changes, transition risks may pose varying levels of financial and reputational risk to organizations.
• Physical Risks: Physical risks resulting from climate change can be event driven or longer-term shifts in climate patterns. Physical risks may have financial implications for organizations, such as direct damage to assets and indirect impacts from supply chain disruption.

Siegfried identified the following climate-related risks as material for its future business (Tier I - Tier III risks in accordance with their materiality): 

In addition, and in line with the TCFD-recommendations, Siegfried identified the following climate-related opportunities as material for its future business: 

By its very nature the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients results in the accumulation of large quantities of waste because manufacturing processes are complex and lengthy. The waste contains by-products of a synthesis which are sometimes harmful for human health and the environment. It is therefore important that this kind of waste is handled with care in order to prevent negative influences on eco-systems. Siegfried meets all requirements of the authorities and is in possession of the necessary licenses. Siegfried meets the defined environmental standards and cultivates regular dialog and an exchange of ideas with the environmental authorities.

Efficient and safe chemical processes are two core elements of process development. As a rule, all chemical processes undergo extensive environmental and safety tests during their development. Our internal safety labs employ well-trained specialists and state-of-the-art measuring instruments for the physical and thermal testing of materials. Flammability, the risk of explosion, as well as the response in normal operation and in the event of emergency are tested and analyzed. The findings are summarized in a safety and environmental report and assessed in a subsequent process risk analysis. 

Ensuring Health
Siegfried maintains process technologies with different containment systems for the development and production of highly active substances and ready-to-use drugs. Closed substance handling protects the employees from excessive exposure. Protective clothing with respirators is additionally available where necessary to provide safety at any time. To minimize the risks of contamination Siegfried has installed decontamination stations, airlocks and designated changing areas. Compliance with the workplace thresholds and the effectiveness of the technical installations are monitored and periodically tested by SHE.