People Positive

We will achieve gender balance in our business by focusing on recruitment and development opportunities to increase the number of women in leadership positions.

The target to achieve gender balance across leadership roles by 2030 is at the heart of our values. A key action in achieving this is having balanced shortlists in internal and external recruitment. Our area of greatest imbalance is the number of women in direct manufacturing operations. Through balanced shortlists and an improved focus on how we recruit in these areas we have already seen progress. In the last two years, we have increased the number of women in direct production roles by 40% with the first female operators at our Mill Hall and Atlas Point sites in North America. Since the end of 2019, we have increased the number of women in leadership roles by 19% towards our target of doubling the number of women leaders by 2025.

Case study: Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)

In 2020 we developed a D&I intranet site, a rich source of information giving employees access to topics including company policies, training and awareness programmes, and providing updates on company activity. Members of the D&I Committee and other leaders have recorded a series of podcasts on a range of topics aimed at raising the level of debate and increasing the number of discussions about D&I. 

We are also working to ensure we have strong data to make sound decisions around D&I and track our progress. This includes ‘people dashboards’ published quarterly to our Executive Committee, Board and regional leaders, providing trend data including balanced shortlists, turnover, gender balance by grade and region, and a summary of wellbeing and inclusion activities.

We will use our smart science to promote healthy lives and wellbeing through the development and application of our ingredients and technologies.

Preventing skin cancer 

Skin cancer is the world’s most common cancer. There are more than 60,000 deaths each year related to melanoma, the deadliest form. We are committed to protecting at least 60 million people annually from potentially developing skin cancer.

This includes undertaking Life Cycle Assessments of our inorganic sunscreen technologies, providing a focus for new product innovation and technology partnerships. We have already partnered with Entekno for its innovative non-whitening zinc oxide protection, opening new possibilities for personal care applications and with Anomera, which offers novel patented cellulose technology as a biodegradable alternative to current sun protection technologies.

Smart science in vaccine developments

Vaccine expertise has obviously focused on COVID-19 recently, and we knew early on that our smart science could help to accelerate vaccine development. Our novel drug delivery excipients are a critical component of the mRNA vaccine produced by PfizerBioNTech, the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive regulatory approval. 

We have continued to work with teams researching many WHO listed pipeline vaccines including HIV and malaria. Our adjuvant technology features in several vaccine candidates that underwent clinical trials in 2020 (phases I to III) across several of the priority WHO-listed diseases. We are moving closer to our target of supporting vaccine development for 25% of WHO listed pipeline vaccines. 

Case study: OptiMalVax - preventing half a million deaths each year from malaria 

OptiMalVax is funded by the European Union as part of its Horizon 2020 Programme. Co-ordinated by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, the objective is to develop a highly efficacious malaria vaccine, targeting the disease-causing parasite plasmodium falciparum. It is estimated this vaccine could help to prevent some 500,000 deaths annually.

Through our longstanding collaboration with the Vaccine Formulation Institute, we supplied adjuvants for the initial screening programmes, which were selected as the preferred option and have also supplied samples for formulation development and look forward to the clinical trials. 

Our work with the Vaccine Formulation Research Institute has given us the opportunity to collaborate on a number of vaccine projects, offering scientific consultancy on adjuvants as well as delivery of samples.

We will promote our smart science and help improve more lives using our technologies within relevant communities, where our science can make a positive difference. We aim to create STEM educational opportunities and provide basic necessities through the use and application of our ingredients.

We are committed to supporting and engaging with the communities in which we live and work, applying our innovation to increase our positive impacts on society, and improving the lives of our employees and people around the world.