Live 0721 EN 210215

N° 7
MARCH 2021 — JUNE 2021
Live.
Interview: Montse Montaner is putting patients first Innovation: Drop by drop towards
creating innovative research platforms Carbon-neutral: Electrifying the road to the future
Green champions: A personal sense of urgency Water & waste: Blister doors
Editorial
Addressing our
warming climate
As the world grapples to emerge from the grip of the ongoing pandem-
ic, we must continue addressing the ongoing climate crisis, which in its
historic consequence risks eclipsing the social, economic and health
challenges brought on by COVID-19. Climate change, if we fail to act
quickly and decisively, may leave humanity in an existential situation in
which technology comes up short and political will comes around too
late.
Halting the warming of our planet is a tremendous task, as we
need to forge new paths after nearly 200 years of industrialization driv-
en by oil and other fossil derivatives. We need to not only reduce our
collective carbon footprint but also reimagine how we do business, as
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said during the Climate Am-
bition Summit, urging leaders around the world to declare climate
emergencies.
I, too, feel the urgent need to act, and I feel confident that human-
ity will overcome the challenges ahead. If we unite behind scientific
facts and take bold and dedicated action based on them, we can stop
the climate crisis. And in doing so, we will once again prove – as our
species has repeatedly proven over centuries – that science-based
progress rises to the occasion when humanity is most in need.
Globally, it is clear we must pivot from a carbon-heavy economy to
a more sustainable era in business. The stakes could not be higher.
According to the World Health Organization, climate change could lead
to 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 due
to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress, among other factors.
Stemming the tide is a technological task requiring innovation as much
as it is a moral dilemma requiring the will to challenge the status quo. It
requires the best minds across industries and sectors to collaborate
and create lasting solutions to transform the way we live and operate
on our planet.
At Novartis, we have committed to do our part to contribute to
global climate efforts. We have integrated rigorous Environmental, So-
cial and Governance structures and processes into the core of our
business. Novartis has ambitious targets in place to achieve full car-
bon, plastic and water neutrality by 2030, and we recently accelerated
our pace in these areas. In 2020, I was proud to join the CEO Water
2
Editorial
Mandate. And last year we achieved a major energy deal in Europe that
marked an important milestone on our journey to be carbon-neutral
across our supply chain by 2030 – a deal that, together with our US
efforts, will help address over 50 percent of our global carbon footprint
in our own operations.
This issue of live magazine illuminates our environmental engage-
ment across a wide range of activities, including research, develop-
ment, global health and, importantly, our production and supply chain
efforts. Thanks to the fast progress made by our manufacturing and
supply chain division, Novartis Technical Operations, we are well on
track to reach our goals in terms of water, plastic and CO2 reduction.
And we will not rest there. Striving to support the UN efforts to
reach its Sustainable Development Goals and to keep global warming
in check, we will keep investing substantial resources to meet our en-
vironmental targets. As a leading global medicines company, our task
is not only to develop innovative medicines to help people improve and
extend their lives, but it also includes creating environments in which
people can live safe and healthy lives. We know climate is deeply tied
to human health, and the natural ecosystem is a rich source of medi-
cines.
The work of improving health and the work of tackling climate
change are inextricably linked, and as a scientific community, as a
global health community and as an international community, we will
overcome the climate crisis if we work at it together.
Vas Narasimhan
Chief Executive Officer
3
Contents
Interview
“We need to put the patient at the center of our
environmental considerations” — Page 6
Montse Montaner, the first Chief Sustainability
Officer at Novartis, on the future of green pharma.
Innovation
The benefits of going small — Page 12
Downsizing research.
Tackling the health

toll of climate change — Page 18
Reacting to rising temperatures.
Carbon-neutral
The logistics of sustainability — Page 26
Don’t fly with me.
The sound of carbon offsetting — Page 32

Rumble in the jungle.
The road to zero carbon emissions — Page 38

A trip to the future.
Green Champions
Rebel with a cause — Page 44
Saving the planet starts with you.
Game changers — Page 48

Focusing on science.
Water & waste

Opening the doors to recycling— Page 54
Industrial enlightenment.
A watershed moment — Page 58

Clean and cool.
4
12
Shrinking R&D.
32
Singing trees.
18
It’s getting hot.
Towards an e-car fleet.

38
Taking action.
48
54 58
Shredding the past. Water world.
5
“We need to
put the patient at
the center of our
environmental
considerations”
Montse Montaner is uncompromising when it comes to quality. The experienced
pharmaceutical leader, who can look back on a long and successful career in
the industry, knows that in drug production one mistake is one too many and
that prudence and caution reign supreme in a sector that aims to help millions
of people live longer and healthier lives.
6
7
Interview: Montse Montaner
This mindset, which she sharpened during her time as Group Head of
Quality at Novartis, is now also helping her in her new role as Chief
Sustainability Officer in which she is leading the company’s environ-
mental sustainability efforts, which span the globe and include a vast
array of projects that need reorganizing under a unifying roof.
“Quality is a make-or-break factor for any pharmaceuticals com-
pany,” she said, as she talks about her previous job. “But above all, it’s
an attitude you have in respect to work and a constant reminder that
what you are doing is having a huge impact for a patient in need.”
While diligence and science have marked her career in the past,
her new position will demand even more from her, including her family,
which was one among several reasons she changed jobs. Montaner
was not just on the lookout for a new challenge. It was, most of all, the
conversations with her teenage kids that prompted her to reassess her
career.
“For some time, the conversations at home with my children re-
volved a lot about climate change,” Montaner said. “Both teenagers,
they are very conscious about the challenges we face, so naturally we
had very serious conversations about the impact of human civilization
on the planet.”
The debates with her children triggered a period of reflection,
Montaner recalled, and also brought back memories of her youth when
she studied in Brazil and worked for a local NGO to help people in
need, many of whom were also affected by climate change.
“When I was around 16 years old, I lived in Brazil in the favelas to
learn more about how people are living there in this situation,” she said.
“I not only realized how fortunate and privileged I was, but also that
people were often affected directly by a climate that is out of control.
A tropical storm could completely devastate a house and rob a family
of all its essentials.”
In some ways, by opting to switch positions and try out something
new, she reconnected with her old self. “Taken together, my decision
to change my job was a result of this particular constellation: my past
experience as an NGO worker, the discussions at home with my chil-
dren and my wish to take up a new challenge and do something im-
pactful and relevant for patients,” she said.
Working to help Novartis achieve its ambitious environmental tar-
gets, which include being fully carbon-, water- and plastic-neutral by
2030, was the right move. “As a company, we aim to reimagine medi-
cine to improve and extend people’s lives. One aspect of this is taking
care of the planet. If you don’t have a healthy planet, it’s much more
challenging to be able to improve the health of people. This was what
finally connected the dots in my case.”
8
Ms. Montaner, you just passed the first What do you need to do in order to gen-
100 days in your new job. How would you erate this credibility
describe the journey so far? First and foremost, we need to be trans-
I’m super happy. I’m learning a lot, so it’s parent internally and externally for people
great. I am continually pushing myself, ask- to understand what we are doing. We have
ing many questions and reading a lot on given ourselves very ambitious targets on
climate change and leadership, as well as which we need to deliver. This means that
specialized literature to deepen my knowl- we need to have a clear governance struc-
edge. Also, I am reaching out to colleagues ture in place, which allows us to measure
at Novartis and people from other compa- and monitor our performance and develop
nies beyond the pharma sector to learn new avenues for progress. Also, we need
from their experiences because we, at No- to have the right priorities. There are a lot
vartis and in the rest of the industry, need of good ideas that people want to pursue.
to do a lot – and fast. But we really need a clear path and the dis-
cipline to turn it around.
Your background is in pharmaceutical
technology. Do you think that you can Consistency helps strengthen credibility.
successfully gear up Novartis to reach its Absolutely. Take our efforts to reduce sin-
ambitious environmental targets? gle-use plastics in our facilities, for exam-
Most of my career I have been working as ple. We had the Green team in Basel that
a pharmaceutical technician and in the started the effort. But the real impact came
area of quality, the last four years as Head only when we started to roll out a compa-
of NTO Quality and Group Quality. My de- ny-wide effort. This led to a sizable amount
cision to switch roles was both profession- of raw material savings and – even more
al and personal. While I have some catch- importantly – showed that Novartis is de-
ing up to do, two important aspects in this termined to make an impact. The effort
new role are to create credibility as well as was not just about using fewer plastics, it
mount an overarching structure that can also had a cultural message, which will
help Novartis reach its goals. continue to have its impact in other parts of
the organization.
How do you want to achieve this?
My background and experience can help Where do you see the biggest potential
here. Especially when it comes to credibil- for impact?
ity. What I learned as Head of Group Qual- One of our biggest breakthroughs was cer-
ity is that, while we can talk endlessly about tainly the virtual power purchase agree-
our goals and visions, we have to deliver in ment we negotiated in the United States a
order to be credible and win the trust of few years ago, which now serves as a blue-
patients, clients, stakeholders and society print for similar renewable energy deals in
at large. This means that if you want to be Europe and elsewhere.
a healthcare leader, the quality of your
product must be impeccable. The same Can you explain the potential?
holds true when it comes to living up to These new collaborative green energy
reaching our environmental targets. deals not only allow us to reduce our own
carbon footprint. Given their size, they can
9
Solar energy is one of the pillars of the environmental strategy of Novartis. Credit: Acciona
also pave the way for our suppliers to par- really put the patient at the center of our
ticipate and help them reduce their own considerations and think about how we
CO2 output. As a leading healthcare com- manage the lifecycle of a medicine in a sus-
pany with thousands of suppliers, we can tainable manner. Of course, it’s a good idea
have a real impact on how business is exe- to reduce plastic, water and carbon con-
cuted today – not just for ourselves but for sumption. But we need to think about it
our partners too. I believe that in this re- from a patient’s point of view and challenge
spect we can gain a lot of credibility in our ourselves on how we can save energy and
efforts if we can develop solutions that natural resources and at the same time
look at climate change in a more holistic generate more value for the patient.
way.
What have you done in this respect so
Are there other efforts you are pursuing far?
that can help transform energy and raw We are now putting in place methodologies
material being used at Novartis? that allow us to calculate our environmental
Coming from the technical and scientific footprint across the lifecycle. While this is a
side of the business, my goal is to chal- technical approach, it will definitely have a
lenge the very basic assumptions we have cultural impact too, since it will prompt our
had in respect to our environmental foot- teams to think early on about how to devel-
print until now. One way, of course, is to op and produce therapies that have a min-
10
imal environmental impact. We are already nies – we need to pull our strategic priori-
working on chemical and biological pro- ties together and work on projects that
cesses today to introduce environmental have the highest impact and also really
sustainability criteria as part of the way we look at the lifecycle of our products in more
operate. While some of these efforts are detail. The journey to achieve our goals will
done in isolation, our goal is now to make be technical and cultural at the same time.
these processes available across the en- Can you expand on the culture aspect?
tire organization and use these technolo- I believe it’s really important that our asso-
gies at scale. ciates provide support for our efforts,
since we need to mobilize everyone to
Where do you get your inspirations to make a difference. This is also a form of
drive change? consistency, which is intrinsically linked to
I am reading a lot these days to be in the our endeavors to generate internal and ex-
know as to what is going on in the environ- ternal credibility. This is certainly what I
mental realm internationally. Of course, I’m learned in the quality assurance area: You
following the efforts of Greta Thunberg have to deliver every day in order to live up
and the World Wildlife Fund, but I am also a to your own standards and to meet the ex-
big admirer of Christiana Figueres, the for- pectations of patients. The tolerance for
mer Executive Secretary of the United Na- mistakes is zero. This is a mindset that we
tions Framework Convention on Climate also need when it comes to our environ-
Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016, mental efforts. This is not a nice-to-have. It
who is among the most important leaders is an essential element of how we execute
in the climate change domain. And I’m also our business.
reaching out to peers in other industries to
learn more. Five years from now, where do you ex-
pect Novartis to be in terms of its envi-
Can you talk more about this external en- ronmental footprint?
gagement? Our goal is to be carbon-neutral in our own
Meeting people from other companies and operations by 2025 and fully carbon-, wa-
sectors and learning from their experienc- ter- and plastic-neutral by 2030. To achieve
es is inspirational and energizing. Through these targets, I see my role within the com-
this openness we can assess our situation pany as a connector, bringing leaders from
better and see where we are well advanced different businesses together and working
and where we need to catch up. Through on the projects with the highest impact.
my discussions with peers from companies Given the backing of the Board of Direc-
such as Microsoft, I have been able to tors and the Executive Committee to reach
complete my picture of our own efforts and these goals, I am confident that we can not
learn about where we can improve. only achieve our targets, but set in motion
a change in the mindset within our compa-
What have you learned in this respect? ny and our supplier network that will trigger
I’m certainly impressed about what Novar- a positive ripple effect in society. For this,
tis has achieved over the past years. Our however, we need to work hard, constantly
ambitions in the environmental realm are and with high quality.
high, and we already have strong struc-
tures in place. But, as I said – and this is The interview was conducted by Goran Mijuk
partly what I’ve also seen at other compa- Photo by Niclas Heitz
11
Innovation: Reimagining R&D
The big benefits

of going small
Two independent Novartis projects, Mic-Drop and MicroCycle, aim to
revolutionize early drug discovery while also simultaneously reducing the
environmental impact.
Text by K.E.D. Coan , photos by Laurids Jensen
“In early drug discovery, typical chemistry optimized in flasks and vials producing a
workflows synthesize about 20 000 times surplus of drug compounds beyond what
more chemical material than researchers is required for initial biological testing.
need for initial profiling,” says Jonathan Beyond the inefficiency of producing
Grob, a research investigator at the Novar- far more than is needed, making and test-
tis Institutes for BioMedical Research ing new molecules takes weeks. New drug
(NIBR). “That’s one example of where the candidates must be synthesized, purified
scales of biology and chemistry can be and assessed for their chemical and bio-
better aligned – we also wanted to further logical properties – and each step is com-
accelerate drug discovery.” pleted in separate specialized labs. As a
The chemistry workflows used today result, for each new idea, sometimes wait-
date back to the 1950s – a time when in- ing times for teams can amount to weeks
vestigational molecules were often directly before they have compiled all the data and
tested in animals. In that setting, research- know whether they are on the right track.
ers needed grams of a drug candidate Because of the time and expense invested
early in the process. But today, as a conse- in each round of optimization, scientists
quence of the molecular biology revolution are also limited in the number of hypothe-
of the 1980s and 1990s, researchers ini- ses they can test.
tially test new molecules in cells or in bio-
chemical screens before moving to in vivo Shrinking the lab
testing in animals. These tests need only But what if this could all be done faster,
nanograms of each drug candidate – but with fewer resources and less waste? “The
due to technical limitations, drug batch siz- opportunity to run smaller-scale chemistry
es have not shrunk accordingly. gave us the chance to ask all of the ques-
Today’s standard drug discovery pro- tions a team would want to know – and to
cess starts with testing millions of com- have a huge impact on hazardous-waste
pounds in plastic plates to find chemical generation and energy use too,” says
starting points to engage the biological Grob, who in 2017, together with his col-
target, generating tons of plastic waste league, Alexander Marziale, and others
and hundreds of liters of hazardous liq- founded the MicroCycle team. It became
uids. The chemical starting points are then part of the Novartis Genesis Labs initiative,
12
which gives in-house researchers start-up purification and quantification.

conditions to pursue unconventional ideas “We’ve brought several emerging technol-
during a period of 18 months. ogies into chemistry labs and we’re con-
“The key motivation was to push down tributing to an orientation towards minia-
the cycle time from idea to data and to al- turization, lab automation and digitalization
low that iterative process to run faster and of drug discovery,” says Alexander Mar-
more efficiently,” explains Grob. “We want- ziale. “We’re now doing drug discovery on
ed to develop a platform that allows teams a scale that is about 100-fold smaller than
to have more iterations within the regular researchers have previously been able to
drug discovery timeline.” do in this early stage of the process.”
One of the team’s central strategies Since its launch, MicroCycle has already
for reducing the cycle time was to bring all contributed to over 10 NIBR portfolio proj-
of the early discovery steps together into a ects.
single multidisciplinary lab space. In the
MicroCycle platform, every step – synthe- Mic-Drop – finding the needle in the hay-
sis, purification, analytics, biological and stack
physicochemical profiling, virtual screen- Another potential revolution in the realm of
ing and data science – is no more than a drug discovery is Mic-Drop, which “en-
few meters away from the next. This elimi- ables new projects by finding the needle in
nates the handover of compounds be- the haystack – for example, promising new
tween groups and increases the efficiency chemical starting points,” says Ken Yama-
of the process. da, a medicinal chemist at NIBR.
But beyond the necessary technolog- Since the 1990s, so-called high
ical innovations, the team also had to re- throughput screening (HTS), the industry
cruit experts for each specialization, al- standard, has enabled the rapid biochemi-
though volunteers weren’t hard to find. cal and cellular testing of millions of differ-
“Genesis Labs allows this unique approach ent molecules. These screens use plastic
to team building that’s a really good way plates with tiny wells that each contain an
for improving the possibilities of what we experimental sample of only a few microli-
could achieve together,” says Grob. ters in volume. Even so, after tens of thou-
“Whenever we asked if people wanted to sands of plates, this adds up to hundreds
get involved, the answer was almost al- of liters of hazardous waste and tons of
ways yes!” “It’s been an unprecedented plastic, which cannot be recycled due to
level of engagement and enthusiasm,” the possibility of toxic contamination.
adds Marziale. Mic-Drop aims to miniaturize screen-
ing to the size of a single chip that fits in
All-in-one platform the palm of your hand. By miniaturizing
In order to fit everything into a lab space, compound loading and biological assays
miniaturization and lab automation have to the size of a single cell, the platform will
also been critical components of the Mi- make it possible to perform screens with
croCycle platform. While biochemical and patient-derived cells that are scarce and
cellular screens can already be run in min- have been out of reach in traditional
iature, scaling down chemistry was a key screening paradigm.
innovation. Specifically, the team needed Mic-Drop began as a conversation be-
to acquire, adapt and repurpose several tween Ken Yamada and Piro Siuti, a syn-
technologies for miniaturized synthesis, thetic biologist in NIBR who had done his
13
A traditional Erlenmeyer flask compared with

part of the new testing system developed by
the MicroCycle team, which is much more
efficient in terms of saving raw materials and
producing less toxic waste. 14
Ph.D. in microfluidics. Yamada was looking search Foundation, which had related side
for a rapid way to perform multiplexed projects. They had all seen potential syner-
screens against large compound libraries gies with microfluidic technologies, but
and droplet microfluidics – the precise none of them had ever been able to dedi-
control of microscopic droplets – offered cate more than a few spare moments to
the possibility of miniaturizing standard bi- their ideas.
ological tests by up to 100 000-fold. “It was interesting to find out that there
“In academia, microfluidics applica- were people around Novartis who were in-
tions were never more than a Proof-of- terested in these approaches and who had
Concept,” says Siuti. “I was really interest- been working on them on the side,” says
ed to see if microfluidics could be applied Siuti. “But nothing was organized until the
in pharma.” Microfluidics have not yet been Genesis Labs project – that was what ig-
successfully applied to drug discovery, nited it and put it all together.” The
mostly because of the need for a diverse cross-functional team thus formed taps
pool of talent and expertise. But this tech- into the vast diversity of expertise avail-
nology has the potential to miniaturize bio- able at Novartis, from engineering to
chemical and cellular experiments into chemistry, biology, informatics and analyt-
droplets just one-tenth of a millimeter in ical sciences.
diameter. In addition to microfluidics, a central
component of the Mic-Drop concept is an
Experiments in droplets effective method for identifying droplets of
“The Mic-Drop platform we’re developing interest after millions of droplets have
makes it possible to reduce reagent use been mixed together. During the biological
100 000-fold to allow screens with more measurement, only a few molecules – and
biologically relevant cells that are rare or therefore a few droplets – show activity,
expensive, which also results in one mil- for example by lighting up with fluores-
lion-fold less liquid waste,” says Ken Yama- cence. Droplets that light up can thus be
da. “Whereas a typical biological screen sorted from those that do not. The team
against a million compounds uses approx- then uses a unique barcoding strategy to
imately 1000 plastic screening plates, we identify the molecules in the illuminated
can do the same screen in just one chip droplets.
that fits in the palm of your hand.” “When we started out, we were won-
In theory, Yamada and Siuti knew that dering if we could actually do this, but with
microfluidics could potentially make it pos- the team fully equipped with the right tal-
sible to store and measure billions of mi- ents and resources to realize this dream
croscopic droplets – each containing a platform, we’ve been able to prove that it’s
unique experiment – in a total volume of definitely feasible,” says Yamada. “We’ve
just a few milliliters. The droplets could be validated all of the individual pieces and
created and kept separate from each other now we just need to put them all together.”
by using a solution of oil. This ability to mix
the droplets together would also be the Moving towards efficiency and sustain-
key to screening faster. ability
As they developed their proposal, Ya- As of early 2020, the Mic-Drop prototype
mada and Siuti were joined by over a doz- has reduced waste and resource use just
en colleagues in Basel, Cambridge and at as much as anticipated. The platform is on
the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Re- track to perform previously week-long
15
All the heavy equipment needed for traditional

drug discovery can fit on a thumb-sized plate
with micro engravings thanks to the inventive-
ness of the Mic-Drop Genesis team.
16
screens in only a few hours. Like MicroCy-

cle, the Mic-Drop team hopes that their
platform will become an official ongoing
Novartis project as well.
“We want to make the Mic-Drop plat-
form as broadly applicable as possible,”
says Piro Siuti. “The Genesis Labs pro-
gram has broadened our audience and we
have many people contacting us now to
collaborate.” Ken Yamada adds that inter-
est is now so big, “we have to prioritize
which projects to start with.”
Meanwhile, the MicroCycle team has
since created two platforms – one for each
of the Basel and Cambridge campuses.
Each lab contains all of the instrumenta-
tion needed for the complete workflow, as
well as experts for each step of the pro-
cess. “MicroCycle isn’t a replacement for
existing approaches, but it offers a new
tool in addition to the big toolkit that’s
available for drug hunters in this organiza-
tion,” says Alexander Marziale. “We’re also
continuously improving the platform, add-
ing new components and deepening our
collaborations with project teams.”
The MicroCycle team sees potential
for improving the sustainability of the plat-
form too. “So far, we’ve only gone down
100-fold in scale,” says Jonathan Grob.
“There’s still a 200-fold opportunity to go
further.”
While highly impactful, both Mic-Drop
and MicroCycle are active in niche areas
so far. But further innovations are already
underway to expand the chemical and as-
say space for both MicroCycle and Mic-
Drop to deepen their impact across the
research portfolio of Novartis.
In a possible future, robots might become

redundant if research can be conducted with
microdrops.
17
Rennender Kolumnentitel
Tackling the health

toll of climate change
Climate change is not only set to impact ecosystems and weather patterns
across the planet, it will also take a toll on human health. While new
diseases may be the consequence of this development, the most likely
scenario is that patterns of existing infectious and non-communicable
conditions will change.
Text by Goran Mijuk, photos by Laura Morton
A researcher retrieves stored cells from the liquid nitrogen

storage at the Novartis campus in Emeryville, California.
18
Innovation:
19
Innovation: Rising temperatures
Back in 2002, when Novartis decided to that is more than four degrees warmer
set up a research lab in Singapore dedicat- than the preindustrial average, with climate
ed to tropical diseases, the idea was not change impacting human health from in-
driven by climate change concerns but by fancy and adolescence to adulthood and
the fact that health conditions rife in devel- old age.”
oping countries, such as malaria and den- “Across the world,” the researchers
gue, were generally ignored by the phar- wrote in the report, “children are among
maceuticals industry. the worst affected by climate change.”
With the foundation of the Novartis In- This, as the experts noted, is not only a re-
stitute for Tropical Diseases, or NITD, the sult of malnutrition and natural catastro-
company aimed to fill this research gap. phes, but also because children are “most
“We felt the need to provide access to susceptible to diarrheal disease and expe-
healthcare for the millions of patients suf- rience the most severe effects of dengue
fering from diseases that were traditionally fever.”
neglected,” said Paul Herrling, the compa- The World Health Organization, for its
ny’s first research head, who helped cre- part, estimates that between 2030 and
ate NITD. 2050, climate change could cause around
The goal of the institute, which today is 250 000 additional deaths per year from
headquartered near San Francisco and malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat
over the years partnered with private and stress, among other factors.
public institutes, including the Bill and Me- “There are clear signs that climate
linda Gates Foundation and the Medicines change will have a substantial impact on
for Malaria Venture, was to accelerate re- health,” says Jonathan Spector, Head of
search in diseases which were widespread Global Health at the Novartis Institutes for
in tropical regions but for which there were BioMedical Research. “This includes infec-
limited or no treatment options available. tious diseases as well as non-communica-
In the early phase of the institute’s ex- ble conditions, areas in which Novartis has
istence, research focused on dengue, ma- been active for decades.”
laria and tuberculosis. Later, scientists
also looked into other parasitic diseases, Managing malaria
such as sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, In the realm of infectious diseases, malaria
cryptosporidiosis and Chagas disease, has long been a focus area of the compa-
which helped broaden the research spec- ny. Even before Novartis was created in
trum and deepen its scientific expertise. 1996 through the merger of Ciba-Geigy
Within two decades, NITD, which is led and Sandoz, one of the predecessor firms
today by Thierry Diagana, has built an ar- worked on chemicals to eradicate the
senal of strong drug candidates in malaria mosquitoes responsible for the spread of
and dengue. These therapies may not only malaria and yellow fever. The most import-
help treat these diseases, but may also be ant discovery was DDT, for which Paul
crucial to combat their spread, which is a Hermann Müller received the Nobel Prize
feared threat due to warming tempera- in medicine in 1948.
tures. Another major milestone came around
the turn of the century with the develop-
Changing climate ment of Coartem®, which became the cen-
According to the 2019 Lancet Countdown terpiece of the Novartis Malaria Initiative
report on health and climate change, “a and turned out to be instrumental in help-
child born today will experience a world ing global stakeholders including the Unit-
20
Innovation: Innovation: Rising temperatures
Malaria scientist Eve Chuenchob uses the

mosquito machine to test a compound.
21
ed Nations and the World Health Organiza- which is “transmitted to humans by Aedes
tion to control the disease in endemic species mosquitoes [that] thrive in tropical
regions in Africa and Asia. and subtropical urban centers around the
But despite these achievements, the globe ... will intensify in already endemic
challenges to eliminate the disease are still areas.” Among the reasons listed by the
huge: More than 200 million people are af- researchers are “faster viral amplification,
fected and around 500 000 die from ma- increased vector survival, reproduction
laria every year – most of them children. and biting rate,” which will “ultimately lead
And worse: The disease-causing para- to longer transmission seasons and a
site’s ability to adapt to current drugs is greater number of human infections, more
increasing resistance risks, while climate of which are expected to be severe.”
change is feared to spread its occurrence. “Dengue is certainly one of the tropi-
“The Malaria Initiative’s great success cal diseases for which there is growing
gave our research an added impetus from evidence that climate change could have a
the start,” said Thierry Diagana. “But the strong impact,” says Feng Gu, who leads
key reason for us to push our research the dengue drug project at the NITD.
was the fact that we were aware early on “Against this background, our leadership in
that resistance to malaria drugs is a reality 2020 decided to continue to support the
and that we need to continually work on further development of our preclinical drug
new treatments. From today’s point of candidate in this disease area.”
view, climate change, of course, is another Currently, Gu and her team are work-
factor to accelerate the development of ing on a compound known as NITD-688, a
new drugs.” pan-serotype dengue inhibitor, which di-
As part of its research efforts, NITD is rectly binds to the viral NS4B protein that
currently working on multiple experimental causes the disease.
malaria compounds. KAF156 and KAE609 According to early test results, the
are now being tested in Phase II trials. Fur- compound demonstrates efficacy in both
thermore, NITD has discovered INE963, a acute and delayed treatment in in vivo
fast-acting and long-lasting drug candi- models, has favorable pharmacokinetic
date against malaria that was the recipient properties and was well tolerated in pre-
of the Medicine for Malaria Venture’s Proj- clinical toxicology studies.
ect of the Year in 2019. “With these com- “This is a great step towards develop-
pounds we are optimistic that we can fur- ing a potential treatment for dengue, which
ther contribute to the elimination of this is becoming more prevalent in many parts
disease,” Diagana said. of the world,” Gu says, noting that in 2019
alone there were major outbreaks in Paki-
Driving dengue stan, Bangladesh, Nepal, in addition to
While malaria is set to spread with increas- many countries in Southeast Asia. In the
ing temperatures, researchers today also Caribbean and Latin America, cases also
believe that another infectious disease, hit record highs. “The sheer number of
dengue, could affect more people due to outbreaks shows that disease patterns are
climate change patterns. Today, it already changing and that there is an added ur-
causes about a 100 million symptomatic gency to develop treatments that can help
infections each year and kills around 20 patients,” Gu explains.
000 people.
According to an article published in
Nature Microbiology in 2019, the disease,
22
Stephanie Moquin, a post-doc in the Dengue team, works on

expressing proteins in a specialized lab at the Novartis research
campus in Emeryville.
23
Smear test samples used in malaria research.
24
Chronic diseases economic and healthcare system point of

While Novartis remains steadfast to broad- view, including raising disease awareness,
en treatments and access for infectious providing access to treatments and doing
disease, the company is also acutely more to curb climate change by reducing
aware that chronic diseases are on the pollution.”
rise around the globe and affect an ev-
er-growing number of people in industrial Holistic approach
and developing countries. Novartis, which has substantially stepped
“The consequences of climate change up its environmental efforts in the past two
and pollution will lead to an increased years to curb its CO2 output, its water and
need for chronic disease management,” plastic use, is also accelerating its already
Jonathan Spector says. “A substantial part broad access activities for which it
of our work is inherently already concen- launched a so-called sustainability-linked
trated in this area as we have indus- bond worth 1.85 billion euro in September
try-leading research and development 2020.
programs focused on a wide range of The company aims to use the funds
non-communicable diseases.” raised through the bond to broaden access
Besides a strong focus on oncology, to its innovative medicines in low- and mid-
Novartis has also built research and devel- dle-income countries as well as boosting
opment franchises in areas such as lung access to its global health programs, which
and heart disease, which are set to rise aim to better manage leprosy, malaria,
due to increased pollution, especially in ur- Chagas disease and sickle cell disease.
ban centers. Expecting to reach potentially around
According to the Lancet Countdown 24 million additional patients in the next
report, “air pollution – principally driven by five years with these measures, CEO Vas
fossil fuels, and exacerbated by climate Narasimhan said the bond was “another
change – [will] damage the heart, lungs, important step on our journey to integrate
and every other vital organ.” In 2016, “glob- [Environmental, Social and Governance]
al deaths attributable to ambient fine par- into the core of our business.”
ticulate matter remained at 2.9 million and Through the launch of this innovative
total global air pollution deaths reached 7 financial instrument, Novartis will “mea-
million.” sure our progress, hold ourselves ac-
“There is a clear need for our activities countable, and demonstrate our dedica-
to continue to help rein in chronic diseas- tion to making good on our promise to
es, which now constitute the main disease broaden global access to our medicines,”
burdens in both industrial nations and de- Narasimhan explained.
veloping countries,” Spector says. “We will While the access goals are ambitious,
learn over time how climate change will so is the willingness of Novartis to reach
further impact disease patterns and we them, given the added urgency created
need to stay vigilant so we can, to the ex- through climate change. But the company
tent possible, predict where the greatest is ready to put the money where its mouth
needs will be and be ready with essential is: As part of the deal, Novartis will pay in-
treatments.” vestors a higher interest if it fails to reach
For this reason, both Gu and Spector its targets. This, for the scientists at NITD
say that, besides increased scientific and and their colleagues, will certainly be an
medical research, disease management added impetus to reach the goals in the
also needs “to be tackled from a political, interest of patients worldwide.
25
26
Carbon-neutral: From plane to ship
The logistics of
sustainability
Novartis has committed to fully reduce the carbon footprint of its entire
supply chain by 2030. But with over 130 000 external suppliers,
where does one begin? Novartis Technical Operations (NTO), among
others, has the answer.
Text by K.E.D. Coan
“We aim to bring a mentality of sustainabil- suppliers around the world – each in coun-
ity across all of our operations,” says tries with different regulations, require-
Steffen Lang, Global Head Technical Oper- ments and infrastructure.
ations, who is overseeing the company’s Besides NTO’s massive efforts and due
sprawling production network. “That in- to the sheer complexity of the endeavor,
cludes not only our own production, but many other parts of the organization are in-
also every step between sourcing our volved in the process too, including Health,
starting materials and when a patient uses Safety and Environment (HSE), which is di-
one of our medicines – and all of our supply rectly liaising with suppliers to educate them
chain partners along the way as well.” about their energy-saving possibilities.
In 2018, Novartis committed to making “What we’re trying to achieve next is
its internal operations carbon-neutral by that our partners think about our targets
2025, as well as reducing plastic waste and and the opportunities we can help them
eliminating any water quality impacts from materialize – and to turn this into a success
manufacturing effluents. With an eye on for them as well,” says Daniela Kessle, who
both local and global operations, Novartis, heads the HSE efforts in this respect as
among others, has recently joined the En- Head of Supplier Assurance and Risk.
vironmental League of Massachusetts
Corporate Council as well as urging the US Greener shipping
government, along with other companies, One of the first and most developed sus-
to back the Paris Agreement. tainability efforts in NTO has been reduc-
The 2030 targets are even more ing the significant carbon footprint asso-
ambitious – becoming plastic- and water- ciated with logistics. During the production
neutral, and reducing the carbon footprint of medicines, starting materials – such as
of the entire supply chain. Beyond how active pharmaceutical ingredients – are of-
Novartis powers its own facilities, the 2030 ten manufactured in one location and then
targets seek to reduce the footprint of all shipped to another location for formulation,
business-related travel, supply shipments and then yet another for packaging. A typ-
and also how the supply chain partners ical medicine may have traveled to several
source their own energy. This requires different countries before it is even ready
working together with a very wide range of to be shipped to a pharmacy.
A container ship during the loading process 27

in the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
The future of transporting medicines lies in these containers.

The port of Antwerp in Belgium is emerging as a key logistics
hub for Novartis.
28
Top: Large packages with medicines wait to be shipped to

the next destination. Bottom: The view from the captain’s deck
of the port of Antwerp, where the logistics journey begins.
29
Thanks to its speed, air freight has been EcoLogistics program across Latin Ameri-
the usual mode of transportation. But the ca,” says De Block. “Our tools now make it
carbon footprint of air freight is nearly 30 clear what we need to do and where we
times greater than sea freight. With this in can have the largest impact and we’ll be
mind, the logistics teams have been shift- continuously improving around the world in
ing away from air freight as much as possi- the future.”
ble. They are now using more sea freight
and planning to scale up the use of other Supply chain focus
less carbon-intensive alternatives such as Beyond shipping to and from suppliers, the
electric trucks and combinations of truck next challenge is to work together with
and rail. supply partners to adopt the ambitious
To help them visualize and optimize all sustainability targets across their opera-
of their shipments, the logistics teams have tions as well. Novartis relies heavily on sup-
spent the last several years developing a pliers for active pharmaceutical ingredi-
unique and comprehensive visualization ents, dose formulation and packaging
tool called QlikSense. This software shows – each of which involves significant energy
all Novartis supply flows around the world, demands. While some providers are al-
the carbon footprint of each shipping route ready advanced in their own sustainability
and an overview of the most sustainable practices, the 2030 goal to cut carbon
alternatives. In 2019 alone, this has led to emissions by 50 percent represents a sig-
an overall carbon reduction of about 7000 nificant leap for many others.
tons – the equivalent of planting 40 000 To better understand how to best
trees. collaborate with and support suppliers,
“This platform has been a real eye Novartis asked their key suppliers to share
opener as far as where and how we can insights on their sustainability performance
optimize our supply flows,” says Davy De in 2018 and 2019. The survey, conducted
Block, Head of Network Strategy and the by HSE, revealed where partners’ efforts
Logistics Sustainability Lead. “It has helped stand at the moment and showed opportu-
us see how we can plan routes and ship- nities for joint projects to reach the 2030
ments more efficiently so that there are target.
fewer trucks on the road and only minimal “The survey results showed that while
air freight.” a few suppliers have bold targets, there is
The team has also been developing a very large field in the middle and a lot of
strategies for reducing shipping waste, suppliers with no sustainability targets in
such as reusing pallets and shipping boxes, place,” says Kareen Saunier, Head of Sus-
rather than disposing of these containers tainability in the HSE Supplier Assurance
after a single use. Their award-winning and Risk team, who led the survey. “For
EcoLogistics program in Brazil has piloted many suppliers sustainability is not yet a
using paper air pillows and reusable pallet business objective and we’ll need to help
covers, leading to a seven-ton reduction in them see the value of these targets.”
plastic packaging waste. Through refriger-
ated shipping trucks, the program has also Sharing solutions
eliminated the use of nine tons of polysty- To raise awareness of sustainable business
rene boxes and 22 tons of ice packs. practices, the HSE team partnered with the
“These solutions can have a huge im- World Business Council on Sustainable
pact and our regional team is rolling out the Development – a leading consortium of
30
businesses working together for sustain- Positive catalyst

able practices – to organize a workshop in These first steps are just the beginning of
June of 2019 at the Novartis Knowledge the colossal effort that will be needed to
Center in Hyderabad, India. The event reach the 2030 target, but the teams,
brought together about a dozen of the most especially those from NTO who bear the
critical suppliers in India, along with internal brunt of the work on the ground, have
strategy, energy and procurement teams. already learned a lot along the way. “As we
“We’re trying to make our suppliers learn more about which solutions have
aware of choices that they have in the mar- been successful in which settings, we’re
ket in order to adopt greener solutions,” creating a toolbox of green economy
says Bhushan Patil, the team’s local repre- solutions that we can apply in similar
sentative who coordinated the Supplier circumstances elsewhere,” says Steffen
Energy workshop. “As of now, these tar- Lang. “With the help of feedback from our
gets are not part of our suppliers’ con- suppliers with more advanced sustainabili-
tracts, but we can offer them solutions that ty programs, we’re driving forward new
are commercially attractive as well as envi- standards across the industry.”
ronmentally sustainable.” Such solutions include innovative virtu-
The workshop presented a range of al power purchase agreements (VPPAs),
sustainable alternatives including on- or through which Novartis and its suppliers
off-site solar photovoltaic panels, solar can commit to purchasing energy from a
concentrators and electric vehicles. Anoth- renewable energy company for a number
er technology, trigeneration, can reduce of years and thus enable the construction
the carbon footprint of operations by up to of new facilities, such as the Texas wind
50 percent by capturing heat energy from farm.
natural gas combustion to simultaneously “Novartis is enabling our key suppliers
provide cooling, heating and electricity. In to purchase green energy at prices that
addition, the consulting company Accen- they wouldn’t be able to achieve on their
ture presented an overview of energy-effi- own by providing knowledge and helping to
cient devices (motors, lighting and utilities) remove barriers to entry like lack of experi-
and a best-in-class case study for making ence,” says James Goudreau, Novartis
air conditioning more energy-efficient. Head of Climate. “This is really all about the
Beyond technological solutions, anoth- difference we can make when we combine
er key message of the workshop was that our efforts and we all work together
both the Indian government and Novartis towards sustainability – we see our role as
are offering business models to make sus- being a catalyst for positive change.”
tainable strategies more affordable. For
example, the Indian government has creat-
ed incentives that strongly encourage
adoption of energy-efficient choices such
as trigeneration and solar panels.
“Awareness about available greener
and affordable solutions is the key,” says
Patil. “Many suppliers are unaware that
these choices can lead to cost savings too
– that was a major message of the work-
shop as well.”
31
R&D: data42
The Horse Bush or Yellow Jacaranda (Peltophorum dubium)

with its beautiful yellow flowers is a fast-growing tree with
a height of 15 to 25 meters.
32
R&D: data42
The sound of
carbon offsetting
33
Carbon neutral: Reforestation
The Guayabi (Patagonula americana) is a typically South American timber tree.

Its trunk diameter is about 70 to 80 centimeters and it reaches a height of 10
to 25 meters. The smaller parasite in the foreground is a Higuera (Ficus benjamina),
a weeping fig.
34
For 15 years, Novartis has been running a sustainable carbon sink

program with four large forestry projects to offset part of its global carbon
footprint. Some 15 million trees have been planted during this period,
sequestering over 530 000 tons of carbon so far. A success in environ-
mental terms, the project’s financial sustainability, however, has been
much harder to achieve.
Text by Patrik Tschan, photos by Florencia Gonzalez Alzaga
At night, in the woods near Puerto Lopez, in the heart of Colombia,

when the parrots stop screeching, the pumas hunt silently in the un-
dergrowth and the monkeys take a nap in the lush crowns above, you
can hear the breath and heartbeat of the trees.
You can place a stethoscope on the stem of a young tanimbuca,
a guanandi tree, a fragrant eucalyptus or a pine tree and you can hear
how they pump water from the roots into the branches, the treetops,
the leaves and exhale it, sprinkling the whole forest with a fine mist in
the morning.
Millions of newly planted trees in Colombia, Argentina, Mali and
China pulse to this same rhythm. All of them contribute to the reduc-
tion of greenhouse gas emissions from the Novartis global industrial
and commercial operations.
The idea to plant massive forests dates back to the early years of
the Millennium, when Novartis joined the United Nations Global Com-
pact, an international initiative designed to spur corporate efforts to
increase environmental protection and social responsibility.
Amid a series of measures to manage its carbon footprint, the
company also decided to invest in carbon sinks and develop its own
large forestry projects around the world in which it has since planted
some 15 million trees. These have helped Novartis offset around 6
percent of the carbon emissions from its operations each year over
the last 10years.
Natural and financial viability

The man steering the massive efforts over this period was Markus
Lehni, who joined Novartis in 2005 as Group Global Head Environ-
ment and Energy.
He and his team did not simply want to grow carbon sinks. Their
goal was to design and develop forestry projects that were in line with
the best environmental and social practices, while at the same time
advancing forestry ventures that are economically sustainable over
the long term.
35
“Our goal was to create projects that would help us reduce our carbon
footprint, while at the same time improving the environmental value of
the sites, giving local communities the possibility to benefit from these
forests and make the projects financially viable,” Lehni said. “This was,
however, far from easy. Looking back over the past years, we have
made good progress, but also had a lot of lessons learned, especially
regarding the financial sustainability of our ventures.”
Tumbling timber
A steep learning curve came with the first and to date most mature
project, which was launched in 2006 and centered on the 3400-hect-
are estate of Santo Domingo in the subtropical northeast of Argentina.
Working together with the local forestry operator Grupo Manejo
Forestal, Lehni’s team and local counterparts steered the plantation
of thousands of pine trees, yellow jacarandas and Australian silver
oaks, among more than a dozen of native tree species from local nat-
ural forests.
Besides helping sequester the bulk of the CO2 output produced
by Novartis so far, the farm, which today employs 20 people, is already
selling timber from selective thinning and considers harvesting pine
resin in future to sustain itself economically. The diverse forest stands
also allow a variety of mammals such as big game, pumas and capy-
baras as well as many reptiles and birds to find a new habitat, con-
necting native forest islands with equally attractive passageways.
But while the Santo Domingo forest has made a substantial
contribution to the efforts of Novartis to balance its greenhouse gas
emissions, the project so far was unable to live up to its long-term
financial goals, mainly because of Argentina’s current difficult
economic situation.
“The price of timber is currently at rock bottom,” Lehni explained.
“Harvesting costs as much as the timber brings in income. However,
despite the currently adverse market environment, we are confident
that Santo Domingo will be able to better balance its accounts in the
foreseeable future and continue to further grow its carbon stock with
a diverse and rich forest environment.”
Jeopardizing Jatropha
Lehni’s team also encountered challenges in Mali, where they
launched an agroforestry project to cultivate Jatropha trees in 2007.
While the initial idea was to sequester CO2 with these robust
bushes, the team also envisaged that the oily Jatropha fruits can be
collected and used for the production of biofuel, soap and bio-fertiliz-
er, providing an additional income to the rural smallholder communi-
ties owning the bushes.
However, pure Jatropha plantations failed to live up to the high
expectations because the plant is difficult to cultivate in arid condi-
36
tions, Lehni explained. Its need of sufficient water to survive and grow
and its erratic yields jeopardized the project.
“After we ran into challenges with Jatropha, the local partners
broadened the scope of the project, included edible crops and other
fruit trees, including cashew trees,” Lehni said.
The 10- to 12-meter-high cashew trees are relatively undemanding
and have been around in Africa since the 16th century, when the Por-
tuguese imported it from Brazil. “The share of West African cashew
nuts on the world market is the third-largest after Vietnam and India,”
Lehni clarified, “so we recently switched from pure Jatropha to a
mixed plantation with cashew and food crops. Jatropha now, as in the
past, is being used as an erosion shield.”
Thanks to this U-turn, the project, which directly employs some 40
staff in rural Mali, not only helps absorb CO2, but is also set to provide
additional income to thousands of smallholders, who will be able to
sell both cashews and Jatropha nuts in the future.
Guzzling game
In China, meanwhile, where Novartis started a collaboration with the
Sichuan Forest Administration in 2010 centering on a massive refor-
estation project in the southwest of the province, the team faced an-
other type of natural hurdles.
Although the project was off to a great start with more than 9
million trees being planted in record time, the harsh climate dented
expectations as the low temperatures on the steep mountainsides of
Sichuan curbed the growth of the trees. Furthermore, damage caused
by herding animals added to the challenges.
However, Lehni is optimistic that the project will ultimately reach
its goals. “We have learned our lessons in China. But I’m sure that the
project in Sichuan will be able to contribute to our carbon-neutral
goals, even if it takes more time than originally expected. Furthermore,
as the Sichuan project is engaging many local stakeholders, it has
already received high recognition as a pioneering private sector en-
gagement in this region.”
Sweet success
Meanwhile, in Colombia, on the Hacienda El Manantial, the most re-
cent forestry project of Novartis, which was launched in 2014, suc-
cess came in a sweet and expected way.
Both the carbon sequestration and efforts to make the project
financially viable were spurred by taking innovative approaches. Re-
garding efforts to bind as much carbon as possible, the operating
company Carbon Decisions International decided to plant a mix of
exotic and domestic species, which help bind carbon quickly and en-
rich the local native woods.
37
“It is known that exotic species such as acacia, eucalyptus, pine and
rubber generally grow much faster than native species and quickly
remove larger amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” ex-
plained Lucio Pedroni, who heads the project implementation of El
Manantial in Colombia. “This is why we planted a large number of ex-
otic trees first.”
However, Pedroni is also cultivating indigenous species. “After six
years of planting numerous types of indigenous trees, it is gradually
becoming clear which species have an interesting commercial as well
as carbon sequestration potential. These will be our focus species for
expansion and for future projects,” he added.
Besides the forthcoming sale of timber and seedlings, another
attractive income source is honey, which is collected from 300 million
bees buzzing in the forest. In 2019, some 35 tons were harvested and
sold. In a few years, the operating company also expects to start har-
vesting and selling latex from the rubber tree plantations.
Sound of success
Meanwhile, the forest of El Manantial has also become a paradise for
rare animal species. Video and photo traps show pumas, mountain li-
ons, ocelots, tapirs, capybaras, giant armadillos and a huge number of
monkeys. The treetops provide nesting sites for curassows, chacha-
lacas, guans, falcons, parrots and eagles. Large anacondas, rattle-
snakes and caimans have also been sighted, as have electric eels,
piranhas and stingray fish in rivers and streams.
“Being in the forest of El Manantial, hearing the sound of the ani-
mals and feeling the pulse of the forest itself, is a great experience per
se,” Markus Lehni recalled a recent visit. “But the greatest thing is that
the project is beginning to pay off. We are offsetting carbon emissions,
provide a livelihood to the local community and can balance the financ-
es through the sale of timber and other products from the forest.”
All in all, despite the many challenges, Lehni and all being involved
in the program are proud of what the company has achieved since it
launched its first forest project back in 2006. “After almost 15 years,
one can safely say that the overall balance of the four reforestation
projects is highly positive. If everything goes according to plan, the
four programs will enable us to offset a total of about 1.2 million tons
of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 or between 60 000 and 80
000 tons every year during the next decade, which corresponds to up
to 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions of Novartis today.”
38
Tea can be prepared from the bark of the Lapacho tree (Handroanthus
heptaphyllus). Enjoy this slightly vanilla-tasting cup of tea with Sebastian
Benitez, forest engineer, in the typical undergrowth of Santo Domingo,
our project in Argentina, between Lapachos, Cañafistulas (pudding-pipe
tree) and other smaller species.
39
The road to zero

carbon emissions
Carbon neutral: Road ahead
In 2019, Novartis generated nearly 900 000 tons of greenhouse gas

emissions. The company’s vehicle fleet contributes around 124 000 tons
of CO2 to total emissions. In order to reach the Novartis target of carbon
neutrality by 2025, the fleet is in the process of becoming greener. But this
literally depends on the road.
Text by Patrick Tschan, Illustrations by Philip Bürli
The late autumn sun in the year 1984 was They mainly use diesel and gasoline mo-
already low when we refueled a 76 Ford tors on the various roads and highways,
station wagon in Death Valley Junction, with only 10 percent of the fleet powered
about 150 kilometers northwest of Las Ve- by hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electric and
gas. The 5.8l V8 engine of the almost six- pure ethanol engines.
meter-long vehicle, which we had bought On average, each Novartis car covers
for 500 US dollars, consumed about 20 li- 30 000 kilometers per year. That corre-
ters per 100 kilometers. A gallon of unlead- sponds to an annual median of 5.2 tons of
ed cost about 80 cents, a full tank less carbon dioxide per vehicle. My station wag-
than 20 dollars. Life was carefree, the radio on had emitted more than 22 tons of CO2
stations were playing Tina Turner, Van Ha- per year into the atmosphere. Unaccept-
len and Madonna over and over. We didn’t able from today’s perspective.
waste a single thought on our car releasing
more than 160 kilograms of CO2 on the Huge savings potential
road from Las Vegas to Death Valley, nor “Achieving the fleet’s target for reduction
that we would emit about 1.8 tons of CO2 of greenhouse gas emissions in relation to
on the whole trip through the USA. We the Novartis 2025 climate goals is some-
drove past Zabriskie Point into the valley. times a difficult and complex matter,” says
At a party in Furnace Creek, the band Laszlo Kiss, Global Senior Procurement
played Take It Easy by The Eagles. Category Manager, Global Fleet.
This goal also completely redefines the
26 000 cars on the road job of a fleet manager. Whereas in the past,
If the Novartis car fleet were to consist of the best quality for the lowest price was
nothing but Ford station wagons, its CO2 the norm when purchasing new cars, car-
emissions would amount to around 611 000 bon neutrality is a completely new factor,
tons of CO2. This would be more than two- and the decision as to which vehicles to
thirds of the total current greenhouse gas include in the fleet needs to be based on
emissions of Novartis (nearly 900 000 new criteria.
tons). One can imagine that this is not so
In reality, the car fleet of 26 000 vehi- easy, because the 26 000 vehicles, with
cles is composed of 18 different catego- most of them field-force cars, operate on
ries. The range extends from so-called the roads of some 79 countries. They are
utility cars such as a Ford Ka or Citroën C1 found on Route 66, as well as on the
to limousines like the Audi A6 or BMW 5 Champs-Elysées, the Pan-American High-
Series and luxury SUVs such as the Volvo way and the Silk Road.
X90 or VW Touareg.
41
An experienced driver brings urgently “What makes things even more difficult for
needed medicines to their destination via a our fleet is that in the remaining 54 coun-
trans-African highway; a sales manager tries outside Europe where our vehicles
drives through the urban canyons of are used, the infrastructure for the wide-
Shanghai; and a biodiversity specialist vis- spread use of plug-in hybrids or e-cars is
its a reforestation farm on the edge of the too sparse or simply not available at all,”
Colombian jungle. explains Kiss.
“If all of these vehicles were electric, or Kiss and his team are constantly ana-
at least equipped as plug-in hybrids or hy- lyzing the political, economic and social
brid vehicles, this would naturally amount situation in all countries where Novartis is
to huge savings in greenhouse gases and present and where there are fleet vehicles
thus be a big step towards the CO2 targets on the roads. The analysis shows which
set for 2025. At present, 90 percent of the milestones the respective countries or re-
fleet consists of vehicles with combustion gions have reached on the road to the age
engines. Replacing them step by step with of electric cars. The results provide the
plug-in hybrids and e-cars is a difficult team with a basis for decisions on the tim-
task,” admits Kiss, who has been working ing of country-specific adjustments to local
as global fleet manager at Novartis for a fleets.
year. “The range of and access to charging
points is one of the most important indices
No charging station at every road for assessing when and where we increase
The worldwide network of paved and un- usage of e-cars. In this manner, we are pro-
paved roads currently measures about 32 gressing meter by meter on our road to
million kilometers. Of these, about 6 million carbon neutrality,” says Kiss.
are located in Central Europe. For every 6
million kilometers there are about 120 000 Roads in the minds of people
charging stations, i.e., on average every 50 The challenges for the transition to e-cars
kilometers electric cars can be recharged. are, on one hand, the necessary infrastruc-
This is probably the world’s densest net- ture and product availability and, on the
work of charging stations for electric and other, awareness regarding the climate
plug-in hybrid cars. problem. “In perhaps just under 5 of the 79
While, on average, coverage looks countries in which our fleet operates is
great, the devil is in the detail: Actually, only there an adequate infrastructure for e-cars.
Norway and the Netherlands have an al- In order to encourage a rethink among the
most nationwide network that provides population, these emissions-free cars need
electricity in sufficient strength and at rea- sufficient visibility. It takes 1 percent of
sonable charging speeds. e-cars on the roads of a country for people
In many other European countries, the to notice their presence and, ideally, to
situation is far from ideal. For example, a consider switching from their traditional
trip on the Autostrada del Sole to the south car to an e-car. Again, the percentage of
of Italy must be well planned. Many nations meeting that requirement is low,”
charging stations are still located outside says Kiss.
the motorway, only a few at the rest stops It is surprising that the e-car has not
and filling stations. The charging time of become more firmly established in peo-
larger batteries is still about 40 minutes. ple’s minds since the invention of the auto-
And whether the charging stations are free mobile. In 1900, cars cruising the streets of
of charge is another uncertainty. New York were about 40 percent electric
42
43
44
and only 20 percent powered by gasoline. Other countries are also pushing for a last-
However, the internal combustion engine ing transformation. In Basel, for example,
rapidly prevailed. Cheap gasoline and, associates have started to create a car-
above all, the much longer range – the pooling group, which aims to simplify trans-
electric car at that time could only cover port for commuters. The scheme, which
80 kilometers at best – tipped the scales in includes a booking app, is now also being
favor of IC engines. In 1912, when the crank extended to other locations.
handle was replaced by the starter motor, “Such actions can help us gain mo-
electric cars were forced to admit defeat. mentum and create the necessary support
Today, the range of pure e-cars is no within the company to reach our goals,”
longer a fundamental obstacle to purchas- Kiss says. “While it won’t be easy, given the
ing them. City e-cars from VW, Citroën or regional differences and the complexities
Kia can reach up to 300 kilometers and of existing leasing agreements, I feel that
beyond. According to factory specifica- there is an unbending will to do the right
tions, top-of-the-line cars from Tesla and thing when I talk to colleagues across the
Jaguar even reach up to 600 kilometers. organization.”
Rethinking also involves people ques-
tioning their needs. They might ask them- The roadmap
selves, for example, whether a luxury off- Against this backdrop, Kiss and his team
road vehicle is really necessary for have drawn up three roadmaps with differ-
someone living in a big city and whether ent goals for fleet-wide CO2 reduction for
better use might not be made of a small, the years 2025, 2030 and 2040, by which
agile, well-equipped electric car. time the fleet should be almost completely
“If someone were to opt for such a electrified.
solution, we could also offer attractive ‘Mo- “If by 2025 we manage to reduce the
bility Packages,’ which could include, for CO2 emissions currently generated by our
example, season tickets for public trans- vehicles worldwide by 75 percent, despite
port of all kinds, as well as rental cars,” the current pent-up demand for electrified
says Kiss, pointing out possible alterna- vehicles, we will probably not have done a
tives to the conventional vehicle offers of bad job. If we also succeed in changing the
the company. environmental behavior of our suppliers in
a sustainable manner, we will also be tak-
Accelerating momentum ing a considerable step in the right direc-
Despite technical, societal and economic tion outside our organization,” Laszlo Kiss
challenges, Laszlo Kiss is confident that concludes.
change is about to happen. Following Laszlo Kiss’s example, I’ll be
“One of the greatest signs that we are soon recharging batteries at Death Valley
on a good way was the reaction of busi- Junction, stopping at Zabriskie Point and
ness leaders in the United States, who re- heading to Furnace Creek at sunset. And
sponded very positively to our proposals to the band may be playing Take It Easy.
revamp the fleet,” Kiss says. “It really shows
that awareness of environmental topics is
rising across the board and that people are
ready to take necessary steps to save na-
ture.”
45
Rebel with
a cause
Florian Bombard’s love for nature and the environment might seem
natural to a man whose first name evokes flowers and plants. But his
passion for the environment emerged much later in life and put the medical
scientist at odds with his old employer. At Novartis, his green activism
helped fan a grassroots revolution.
Text by Goran Mijuk, photos by Laurids Jensen
46
Green champions: A green awakening
Florian Bombard hardly looks like a rebel. cized the fact that some 80 percent of the
No visible tattoos, stylish haircut or freak- uncontaminated waste produced in the lab
ish clothes. But the medical scientist from where he worked as a biologist consisted
the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Re- of plastic, which at the time was simply
search has many traits that characterize thrown away. Intent to change this, Bom-
unruly minds: a strong sense of justice, a bard asked the building manager if he
distrust of the status quo and an untiring could install a container on the floor and in
energy to change things. In his case: the the waste collection room of the building to
way the pharmaceuticals industry manag- get rid of the material.
es resources. “As soon as those containers were
All of this started during his previous there, I began convincing my colleagues to
employment in France, when he lost his join my recycling efforts. And their reaction
sense of purpose and questioned the han- was positive across the board,” Bombard
dling of natural resources. During the peri- told live back in 2016, when the magazine
od, “I clashed with my manager and finally focused on the volunteering efforts of No-
reached a point when I said, ‘No more,’” vartis associates across the globe.
Bombard remembers. This was more than Some of the colleagues who joined him
11 years ago and triggered a prolonged early on in his efforts were Frédérique La-
phase of soul-searching. fossas, Stephanie Pickett and Benjamin
His concern for nature, for the fate of Martin, among many others, with whom
the next generations and his thoughts Bombard created the Basel Green Team, a
about sustainability deepened when his so-called Employee Resource Group, in
oldest daughter was born and he joined which associates come together voluntari-
Novartis in late 2008. “I spent years think- ly to develop and promote the vision, goals
ing about the way we work in the lab,” Bom- and values of Novartis. Worldwide, there
bard says, recalling the time he tried to are several dozen such teams, including
understand and formulate his inner calling. groups focusing on cancer care and mind-
“I started to read more and wrote down my fulness training.
ideas during every single train ride from Within a short period of time, dozens of
Strasbourg to Basel for three years! It was associates joined Bombard and Lafossas,
a deeply personal journey, which allowed who started looking into new solutions to
me to strengthen my convictions and find reduce waste and help Novartis become
my own way.” more energy-efficient. Among the many
projects which the group promoted was a
Grassroots movement carpooling venture, allowing commuters to
At Novartis, however, Bombard did not the Basel headquarters to share their cars
clash with his colleagues. On the contrary, with colleagues. Currently, a scale-up of
he was able to put his ideas – which also the venture to other Novartis sites is being
led him to found a private urban compost- discussed.
ing venture – into action and create an en-
vironmental movement, which has the ca- Going global
pacity to change how the company Another project which quickly gained trac-
executes research and produces drugs. tion was the Green Team’s effort to get rid
It all started in a biology lab back in of single-use plastic and ask associates to
2012, when Bombard, after having come to take reusable plates when they go for
terms with his inner calling, openly criti- lunch. Starting out in Basel, the idea, which
47
received support from the Novartis Health, Connecting people

Safety and Environmental function, took Bombard knows that he can only achieve
the company by storm, as Bombard and his his goal if he can bring people together –
colleagues were able to broaden their most importantly the specialists who are
reach within the company and find follow- able to effect the change in the laborato-
ers around the world. ries and production facilities.
The secret of his success, Bombard “I am a biologist and my skills and
says, is not his own innate strength, but his knowledge are limited when it comes to
ability to leverage the enthusiasm of oth- developing new processes,” Bombard ad-
ers. “I enable the strength of people who mits. “I am also not a businessman and re-
are motivated, connect them and help them ally need people from different functions to
to start their own local or business groups. sit together and develop new ideas.”
Each of them energizes all the others,” Balancing viewpoints and finding the
Bombard says about the colleagues he is people with the right mindset and skills is
working with. “I don’t want people nominat- where Bombard sees his strength. “My role
ed. I want people who volunteer.” is to connect people who have new ideas
This attitude not only helped him to and help them get rid of potential road-
land a new job within the company – he is blocks,” he says. “To some extent, looking at
now Environmental Sustainability Lead at my career, it’s crazy that I am in this role. I’ve
the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Re- had a steep learning curve. But I’m hopeful
search – but also allowed him to find the that we can change things step by step.”
right people to start embedding environ-
mental sustainability within the different Finite resources, infinite needs
business units. With two e-mails, he found For Bombard, the key goal is to change the
several dozen volunteers from across the way scientists start to rethink how they de-
organization who followed his call. sign and produce drugs. “Many of our pro-
The same approach also allowed him cesses still depend on oil-derived solu-
to set up the One Novartis Environment tions, not just plastic wrapping. But this is a
Sustainability Team, or ONEST for short. finite resource. If we have no oil anymore
Born during an ideation contest two years and continue to depend on our current pro-
ago, the goal of the global venture, which is cesses, we won’t be able to find and pro-
made up of volunteers, is to find and devel- duce drugs. And this problem is not just
op eco-friendly projects that can be imple- limited to oil!”
mented around the world and impact the While this is a scary thought in itself,
way the Novartis workforce of more than Bombard is already working to bring togeth-
100 000 associates operate. er teams across the organization which are
The group, which already consists of experimenting with new processes that rely
more than 540 Novartis associates world- on more sustainable ways of developing
wide, is pursuing a series of ventures, medicines. Although many projects are still
including the establishment of innovative in the early phase, some, like enzyme-based
finance processes to strengthen sustain- chemical catalysis, are further advanced
ability, the organization of eco-friendly and may soon change the way the company
meetings and efforts to identify alterna- develops and produces medicines.
tives to fossil plastics. “This is one of the gifts we can offer to
the next generation: how to make a busi-
ness and our world sustainable. Not just for
48
For Florian Bombard no is not an answer. Frédérique Lafossas joined Florian Bombard early on in his
environmental activities.
tomorrow or the next generation. But for

the hundreds of generations that will come
after us,” Bombard says.
Although the father of four is a man
with a strong vision, he may not share the
enthusiasm of Elon Musk and other trans-
humanists, who are hunting for the stars
and dream to send people to Mars and be-
yond in search of a new world. Bombard is
a down-to-earth realist who believes that
planet B is not an option – at least for now.
The problems we have today must be
solved today in order not to jeopardize the
generations to come. Considering this, in a
world of unrestrained consumerism, in-
stant gratification and the overselling of
distant utopias, Florian Bombard does not
only look like a rebel, he is one – one with a
cause.
49
Green champions: Passion for nature
Game
changers
Text by Goran Mijuk,
photos by Laurids Jensen, Laura Morton,
Nicolas Heitz and Fidelis Onwubueke
Doing your job in a great way is one possi-

bility to carve out a career. But for an in-
creasing number of people this seems too
little. They want to change the status quo,
disrupt conventional ways to do business
and make the world a better place. While
this may sound lofty and somewhat cheesy,
it is exactly what many colleagues at No-
vartis are seeking to achieve, especially
when it comes to improving the company’s
environmental footprint.
Among the associates who for years
have been aiming for a big impact is
Markus Lehni, a long-time veteran of No-
vartis who has managed four large refor-
estation projects, helping plant some 15 Christoph Freslon
million trees. The same inspiration is driv- Principal Scientist in Global Discovery Chemistry
ing Caroline Keller, who together with her
Basel colleagues built the Green Team,
“Pioneering the extreme miniaturization
which now serves as a change platform to of biological assays and compound
improve Novartis’s carbon footprint, among synthesis helps us draw the frame of
other things. a more sustainable and environment-
And our colleagues in R&D, too, are no friendly pharmaceutical research.”
less ambitious. The teams around Alexan-
der Marziale and Christophe Freslon are
trying to reimagine drug discovery, using
fewer raw materials and toxic solutions
to develop new therapies by shrinking
the complex and instrument-heavy R&D
process.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Spector and Gu
Feng are setting their sights on the future,
thinking about which diseases could
emerge once climate change accelerates
and makes life on earth more difficult for
millions of people.
50
Sandra Wildhaber
Scientific Product Manager
“Striving for a digital lab in which software solutions accelerate
finding is just one way I am trying to help Novartis to reduce waste
and resources and make a positive environmental impact.
Everyone can make a difference and I believe small changes
can really add up, especially when those small changes multiply
over a large organization.”
51
Caroline Keller Alexander Marziale

Senior Manager Regulatory Information Principal Scientist II
Management
“We as a company are committed to
“I love hiking in nature, admiring wildlife positively impact the life of patients.
and plants. It is also where I recharge my Being able to do this in a more sustainable
batteries, so it is natural for me to protect fashion by using state-of-the-art tech-
what I love! I also wish that the next gen- nology in drug discovery, allowing us to
erations can enjoy the beauty of nature.” use precious resources responsibly, is
a privilege but also a motivation to ques-
tion and adjust my own way of living.”
52
Armand Guiguemde Feng Gu

Principal Scientist I at the Novartis Institute Director Portfolio Management & Partnerships
for Tropical Diseases at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases
“Malaria prevalence is mainly driven by “Climate change is expanding the
the climate and this deadly disease range of vectors of tropical disease and
particularly affects children under five aggravating public health around the
years of age in endemic areas. We are globe. I am proud to contribute toward
looking into innovative approaches the development of the therapeutics
including artificial intelligence to curb that help to mitigate the hardship for
the impact of this horrific disease.” affected communities everywhere.”
53
Odile Decoret Jonathan Spector

Research Scientist Head of Global Health at NIBR
“In recent years, chemists have turned “My young daughter loves science. Her
their attention to greener processes to delight in the wonders of the natural
reimagine the practice of chemistry for a world over the next half century will
more sustainable future. Being part of hang on the state of our planet, and all
the MicroCycle team is a way to apply this signs suggest that climate will be a
principle: Downscaling chemistry is not major influencer. I hope we can all pull
only impacting medicinal chemistry together to address it.”
projects, it also produces fewer waste.”
54
Markus Lehni
Environmental Sustainability Coach and Advisor
“Guiding Novartis to be a leader in environmental sustain-
ability has always been my ambition since I became engaged
with Novartis 15 years ago, first as Global Head Environment
and Energy and now as Environmental Sustainability
Coach and Advisor. What I expected from the company as
a professional, I equally keep doing as an individual.”
55
Opening the doors

to recycling
56
Water&waste: Reusing plastic
A completely new approach to environmental protection has opened

up in Brazil: doors and skirtings made from the raw material used for blister
packaging. It is the result of a unique recycling project driven by the
Novartis Technical Operations site in Cambé and could set a precedent
across the company.
Text by Patrick Tschan, illustration by Philip Bürli
A good six hours’ drive southwest of São stantial amount of waste: 200 kilograms per
Paulo lies the city of Cambé, an industrial day, which amounts to 47 tons every year.
town of around 100 000 inhabitants, where The waste is caused during equipment
Novartis Technical Operations runs one modifications, test and preruns, trimming,
of its largest packaging plants in Latin incorrect punching and unclean seals.
America. Until recently, the waste was disposed
Here, more than 400 employees en- of in a landfill – an unsatisfactory solution
sure that 2.3 billion individual doses are for Hellen Schmitt, who knows that alumi-
packaged annually, mainly for the Brazilian num can be recycled easily and put to bet-
market, including some 330 finished dos- ter use than simply throwing it away.
age forms of 51 different molecules. In their search for a new and sustain-
Most of the medicines are sealed in able solution, Schmitt’s team came across
blister packs, which are produced locally Unicomper, a Brazilian company specializ-
and are made of aluminum and PVC, mate- ing in a recycling process in which blister
rials that have been used for decades and waste is turned into doors, trims and base-
have proven successful in protecting med- board for civil construction.
icines.
“Aluminum is a central factor in the PVC wood
packaging of medicines,” says Hellen Unicomper’s director, Jorge Luiz Furlan, hit
Schmitt, Environment Analyst at Novartis upon the idea to reuse blister waste during
Brazil. “On the one hand, it seals the pack- a trip to China, where he saw competitors
aging and thus protects the active ingredi- separate aluminum from PVC in blister
ents of the medication from environmental packs. This inspired him to carry out his
influences such as dirt, heat and moisture. own research.
On the other hand, the thin aluminum layer But unlike the Chinese companies, Fur-
also reduces the risk of drug counterfeit- lan focused on the idea of reusing all the
ing. A trained eye can tell whether the blister materials – PVC and aluminum. The
drugs are original or fake.” recovered material, according to his vision,
But there are more strengths to the would serve as the starting point for an ex-
material, which are now being put to good trusion process that would help supply
use: “Another crucial advantage of the light semi-finished products for doors, door
metal is that it is easy to recycle,” Schmitt jambs and skirting boards.
points out. “After a series of tests and trials, we
have found that the blister material can be
Looking for ideas used as a component together with other
Cambé’s annual production of around raw materials such as virgin resin, addi-
73 million blister packs generates a sub- tives, carbonate and wood powder to cre-
57
ate a ‘dough,’ which we call ‘PVC wood,’ serve as a breeding ground for fungi or ter-
and can be extruded into various forms,” mites, as conventional wooden doors do.
Jorge Luiz Furlan says. If the door production from Cambé’s
During the recycling process devel- blister waste were extrapolated to the
oped by Unicomper, the blister is shredded total excess blister production of Novartis,
into micro-particles. After this step the the aluminum could help produce around
PVC and aluminum are separated in an 94 000 doors that could be used to build
electrostatic process and later mixed with a small town with 18 800 three-room
other materials according to a special rec- apartments.
ipe to form a viscous dough that serves as “This is an incredible number,” says
the base for new products. Hellen Schmitt, “and it would be a huge
“The conversion of the waste is com- step towards plastic neutrality for the
pletely sustainable and does not cause any whole of Novartis if we could recycle all
environmental impact, as the PVC extrusion blister waste in this way.”
process operates at 150 degrees Celsius,”
Furlan explains, adding that “at this tem- Room for more
perature, there is no decomposition of the Schmitt’s blister recycling idea also gained
material and no release of harmful gases.” recognition within the company as the
Unicomper now processes blister team won an internal award and was able
waste from around 10 different pharma- to spread its vision across the company.
ceutical companies in Brazil, including fun- “The process for reusing waste from
gus- and termite-resistant doors and skirt- the manufacture of blister packs has
ing boards for the Brazilian market. proved so successful in Brazil that hopeful-
At present, blister recycling works with ly other plants in other countries will soon
unused material that falls off during the open their doors to similar recycling pro-
manufacturing process. The reason for this cesses,” say Hellen Schmitt.
is the contamination of the blister packs The fact that the amount of uncontam-
with active pharmaceutical ingredients inated blister waste from all of Novartis
(APIs). These microtraces would end up in could equip a small town with doors stirs
the final products and thus be released into the imagination and begs the question
the environment. As things stand today, what could be done if used blisters were
there is still no valid and safe process that also cleaned of APIs and reused in a similar
allows used blisters from the private sector way. This would have enormous potential
or hospitals and clinics to be reused with- – the total volume of the blister market is
out risk. expected to reach more than 1.2 million
tons by 2026 according to consultancy
80:1 FACT.MR – and would be a real break-
The aluminum and PVC waste generated in through in the recycling of pharmaceutical
Cambé is the raw material for the produc- packaging.
tion of 3760 doors annually. This would be Hellen Schmitt’s team, together with
enough to equip around 750 three-room Unicomper, has taken the first big step in
apartments with five doors each. this direction and has opened the doors to
The doors are especially attractive for new forms of recycling.
countries in the southern hemisphere:
They are resistant to moisture and heat,
are waterproof, corrosion-free and do not
58
The waste stemming from blister packaging production

is being reused for building PVC doors.
59
The river Mures flows gently through the Carpathians.

60
A watershed
moment
Drug production not only requires huge amounts of water.
Contamination with active pharmaceutical ingredients
and other production residue is another huge challenge to keep
water use under control, especially in water-scarce regions.
In Romania, Singapore and India, Novartis Technical Operations
is implementing new technologies to save water and help
local communities manage their resources.
Text by Patrick Tschan and Goran Mijuk
61
Water&waste: Managing water
F
From its spring in the Eastern Carpathians, the river Mures flows west-
wards, making a detour of more than 1000 kilometers via the Tisza and
the stately Danube before finally flowing into the Black Sea.
For thousands of years, the settlements on its banks have benefit-
ed from the river’s water, including Targu Mures, a university town of
about 150 000 inhabitants, which is located in the former Ger-
man-speaking region of Transylvania and sits almost in the middle of
Romania.
Thanks to the abundance of water, as well as an excellent pharma-
ceutical faculty, the town developed into one of the most important
industrial centers in Eastern Europe, which has helped it attract sever-
al large players, including Novartis Technical Operations (NTO).
The company, which has been active in the region since 1996, pro-
duces some 0.4 billion single medical doses here every year. The pro-
duction process not only requires large quantities of water but also
forces operators to carefully filter out potentially harmful ingredients.
Technological leap
In the past, production sludge and residue, including active pharma-
ceutical ingredients (APIs), were incinerated together with the
water. But now, in order to save water, energy and costs, the NTO
management in Targu Mures have built a new water treatment plant. It
has been in operation since 2019 and is equipped with the latest car-
bonfilter technology to better purify it from APIs and support local
communities.
“We built a new water purification plant not just to comply with the
highest industry standards, but to save water and help Novartis reach
its water neutrality goals and give back to society,” says Florin Butiulca,
who heads the Health, Safety and Energy function at the site. “With the
new method, we not only save water but also make substantial financial
savings, as the production sludge is minimized,” Butiulca explains.
The water and financial savings are the result of a technological
leap stemming from a new generation of activated carbon filters, which
can retain APIs more effectively than conventional filters. As part of the
purification process, the production water is first processed in a biore-
actor before it is passed through an activated carbon filter, which re-
tains all APIs, and from where the water is transported to the local
sewage plant, where it is treated and made fit to be released in the
Mures river.
62
“This is a major technological step,” Butiulca says. “It not only allows
the purification of our water to almost drinking quality on our site – the
fact that we transport it to the local sewage plant is also a safety mea-
sure. We are really a sort of pacemaker for other industries to use
novel technologies that can help the world save water in general and
allow the United Nations to reach its Sustainable Development Goals.”
As part of its climate change efforts, the UN has formulated 17
goals, one of which focuses on the use of water and aims to “ensure
availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all.” Novartis, which fully subscribes to the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), aims to be water-neutral by 2030 and to halve water
consumption in its own operations by 2025 compared to its 2016 level
of consumption. In 2019, Novartis used 67.2 million cubic meters of
water, down from 79.1 million cubic meters in 2016.
Precious resource
In Singapore, another important NTO manufacturing site, which pro-
duces around 3 billion tablets a year, Novartis is also making fast
progress by using innovative water treatment technologies to recycle
production wastewater, which is set to help drastically reduce the need
of fresh water supply.
This is vital. Because of to the scarcity of local water availability
and the high demand for cooling water due to the tropical climate con-
ditions in Singapore, this project has a very high strategic value for
Novartis and Singapore itself.
“Potable water is a precious commodity in Singapore,” says Man-
uel Ungerer, Site Development Head in Singapore. “On this small is-
land, water conservation opportunities are limited and the provision of
drinking water to the 5.7 million inhabitants is complicated and expen-
sive. Therefore, the government welcomes any relief regarding the
water supply.”
To boost the vision of a highly sustainable site and minimize our
environmental impact on the local community, management in Singa-
pore decided to install an efficient wastewater segregation system in
combination with a reverse osmosis unit, which allows water to be pu-
rified to an acceptable recycling level. “By using this technology, we
require less water from Singapore in the future and help the govern-
ment reach its goals to save water,” Ungerer explains.
The Singapore government, which since 2015 has required all in-
dustrial companies to employ a certified energy and water manager,
was impressed by the reverse water treatment system of Novartis,
which was the first of its kind in the country on such a large scale. “We
are proud of this achievement,” Ungerer says, adding that “it’s quite
possible that the government will define our plant as a desirable stan-
dard for similar industries.”
63
Despite limited space, the team in Murges Workers had to develop ingenious processes
found a lot to build the new water treatment to erect the water treatment facility.
facility.
64
Once the structure was erected, the team ... as the large boiler had to be installed on
had to make another heavy lift ... the narrow lot.
65
Watershed project
While efforts in Targu Mures and Singapore have come a long way on
the back of new technologies, associates in India are working on an-
other innovative model to limit water use and conserve rainwater.
They plan to implement watershed management technologies, which
have proven successful in helping some regions restore their scarce
water resources.
“India is one of the countries most affected by water scarcity,” says
Bhagwat Sudhir, who helps oversee the watershed project. “Cities
such as Hyderabad risk depleting their groundwater. For this reason,
we started to look at water management systems that not only are
sustainable for the industry but also have a positive effect on society
in general.”
Watershed technology takes the natural flow of water in a region
into account in order to manage water supplies, be it for irrigation or
for other purposes. In a nutshell, a watershed is a geographic area that
collects rainwater and drains it out through a single outlet, be it a
stream or a river system.
“The reason why we opted for this technology is that just focusing
on business needs is no longer the only approach to ensure business
sustainability,” Sudhir explains. “In view of the increasing water scarci-
ty and probable conflicts with shared water users, it is important to
look beyond a company’s needs and make a difference through water-
shed projects, which help to enhance water availability in regions of
operation.”
Working together with a local NGO, Sudhir and his colleagues aim
to initiate a watershed development project near the company’s supply
chain operations in India’s Telangana region. “The goal here would not
only be to improve our own water management, but to provide the
community with a sustainable source of water,” Sudhir explains.
Benefits for communities can be massive. A study from an In-
dia-based NGO of 15 villages revealed that watershed technology can
increase crop outcome, irrigation areas and agricultural employment
between 30 to 230 percent.
“We are still in a very early phase,” Sudhir conceded, “and it will
take at least two years before we can see the results of our first pilot
project. But, taking the water scarcity in India and other countries
around the world into account, we definitely need to take action and
spur innovation to get sustainable results that help not only enterprises
but society at large. With the pilot watershed project in India, we are
definitely on the right track in achieving our water neutrality goal.”
66
Helping to make the most efficient use of water in Singapore:

The new wastewater segregation system with a reverse osmosis
unit allows water to be purified to a high level.
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Publication details
live is the global Novartis feature magazine.
Also visit us at https://live.novartis.com.
Editor-in-chief: Goran Mijuk.
Publisher: Novartis International AG, Redaktion live,

Postfach, CH-4002 Basel, live.magazine@novartis.com.
Design: Tabea Schneider, schneiderund.com.
Editorial support: Reinhardt Verlag, Basel,
tel. +41 61 264 64 64.
live magazine has received numerous awards:
Best print magazine & best long feature (Ragan,
USA), best European employee magazine (FEIEA),
Golden Feather for the author and feature of the
year and magazine of the year (SVIK, CH), Silver
Grandprix (inkom, DE) and iF DESIGN AWARD
Finalist 2021.
Printed on recycled paper.

Live 0721 EN 210215

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N° 7

MARCH 2021 — JUNE 2021

Tackling the health

The sound of carbon offsetting — Page 32

The road to zero carbon emissions — Page 38

Game changers — Page 48

Water & waste

A watershed moment — Page 58

Towards an e-car fleet.

The big benefits

which gives in-house researchers start-up purification and quantification.

A traditional Erlenmeyer flask compared with

All the heavy equipment needed for traditional

screens in only a few hours. Like MicroCy-

In a possible future, robots might become

Tackling the health

A researcher retrieves stored cells from the liquid nitrogen

Malaria scientist Eve Chuenchob uses the

Stephanie Moquin, a post-doc in the Dengue team, works on

Smear test samples used in malaria research.

Chronic diseases economic and healthcare system point of

A container ship during the loading process 27

The future of transporting medicines lies in these containers.

Top: Large packages with medicines wait to be shipped to

businesses working together for sustain- Positive catalyst

The Horse Bush or Yellow Jacaranda (Peltophorum dubium)

The Guayabi (Patagonula americana) is a typically South American timber tree.

For 15 years, Novartis has been running a sustainable carbon sink

At night, in the woods near Puerto Lopez, in the heart of Colombia,

Natural and financial viability

The road to zero

In 2019, Novartis generated nearly 900 000 tons of greenhouse gas

received support from the Novartis Health, Connecting people

tomorrow or the next generation. But for

Doing your job in a great way is one possi-

Caroline Keller Alexander Marziale

Armand Guiguemde Feng Gu

Odile Decoret Jonathan Spector

Opening the doors

A completely new approach to environmental protection has opened

The waste stemming from blister packaging production

The river Mures flows gently through the Carpathians.

Helping to make the most efficient use of water in Singapore:

Publisher: Novartis International AG, Redaktion live,

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