Materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement

Engaging with our stakeholders is essential for understanding their expectations, needs and concerns. By embedding their feedback into our strategy and our daily business, we are able to address our common issues and develop long-term solutions. more

To ensure we have identified the topics that affect our stakeholders and that are particular relevant for our long-term success, we conducted a materiality analysis at the corporate level among our key stakeholders, in line with our strategy. more

STEP 1

Defining the materiality process

Preparing our assessment

Confirm process, criteria and drivers to assess materiality of key topics
Determine ability to influence topics and opportunities for differentiation

STEP 2

Collecting stakeholder feedback

Views from our stakeholders

Identify key stakeholders
Collect feedback through surveys and internal experts

STEP 3

Identifying and ranking material topics

Our 21 material topics

Integrate with key corporate business risks and opportunities
Tiered ranking in line with group risk reporting
Address through aligning with our strategic priorities, goal setting processes and operational activities

In a first step, we defined an integrated process, criteria for inclusion and main drivers for the materiality assessment. In a second step, we gathered stakeholder feedback through various internal and external sources, conferences, as well as regular interviews and one-on-one discussions conducted by Roche experts. This enabled us to include the topics from those stakeholder groups that we consider most important to our business and to the healthcare sector: patient organisations, employees, media, investors, payers, regulators and governments. We also identified key corporate business risks and opportunities through our internal risk framework that allowed us a tiered-based ranking. more

In a final step, in 2017 we combined and ranked those various insights and identified 21 materials topics that stood out as highly relevant to us and to our key stakeholders, and with a significant impact on our long-term success. These 21 material topics are reflected in our business priorities. We define goals, take concrete actions, and measure performance through defined indicators. The process and the results of our materiality analysis have been endorsed by the Roche Corporate Sustainability Committee and by our Chief Executive Officer.

Moving forward, we will maintain constant engagement with our key stakeholders at a global and local level and regularly update our materiality analysis.

Our 21 material topics

Tier 1 - Fundamental drivers of our ability to deliver on our core purpose in the long term

Tier 2 - Major influencing factors for our business success in the short and medium term

Tier 3 - Additional material topics

Focus on patients

Material topic	Drug efficacy, safety and counterfeiting
Why is it material	Ensuring patient safety and the effectiveness of our medicinal products is our top priority. Counterfeiting medicines and diagnostic products is a criminal act which poses a significant risk to the safety of patients. Our position on counterfeiting
What we do	Maintaining high standards for patient safety More about how we combat counterfeiting
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations Policy makers Investors Media Reporting: Customer Health and Safety (GRI 416-1) Marketing and Labeling (GRI 417-1)
Material topic	Biosimilar safety
Why is it material	Biosimilars are not exact copies of the innovator biological product. Our view is that biosimilars must meet rigorous regulatory and quality standards comparable to original medicines. To this end, Roche is working with regulators providing knowledge in order that approval standards are appropriately set. Our position on biosimilars
What we do	More about how we engage with stakeholders for the development of a clear regulatory framework on biosimilars
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Investors
Material topic	Disease awareness and treatment education
Why is it material	Awareness of disease and symptoms is essential for screening and early detection. If members of the public are aware of a disease and its symptoms, they are more likely to take action to prevent it happening to them, or go to healthcare providers for check-ups.
What we do	More about increasing disease awareness and patient support
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Investors
Material topic	Patient organisations support
Why is it material	Patient organisations are key partners for us. They provide a forum for patients and caregivers to share their stories and experiences and also help to shape the current and future healthcare environment by making their collective voices heard. They help us understand the human experience and personal challenges of a disease, providing us with invaluable insights to improve our product development and clinical trial programmes.
What we do	Supporting a range of patient organisations
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations

Excellence in science

Material topic	Product portfolio strategy
Why is it material	Having a strong pipeline and ensuring a steady flow of compounds into late-stage development is critical for the sustainability of our business.
What we do	Our pipeline
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Investors
Material topic	Patent policies
Why is it material	Like all research-based companies, Roche needs patent protection to be able to recoup its long-term investments in research into new medical solutions and to pursue further innovations. Without patents and pricing that encourages real progress, innovation is impossible. Our position on patents and intellectual property
What we do	More about sharing our intellectual property
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Governments Media
Material topic	Data transparency on clinical trials
Why is it material	We are committed to sharing data from clinical trials while ensuring that patient confidentiality and commercially confidential information is protected. At Roche, we agree that high quality analysis of clinical trial data by scientific researchers can broaden knowledge about our medicines and benefit patients and public health. Our commitment to data sharing
What we do	(www.clinicalstudydatarequest).
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations Governments Media

Personalised Healthcare

Material topic	R&D pipeline strategy and Personalised Healthcare
Why is it material	Personalised Healthcare means fitting the treatment to the patients, allowing doctors to pinpoint those patients most likely to benefit from a drug and thus enabling healthcare systems to allocate their resources more effectively. With our combined strengths in both Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics and proven expertise in molecular biology, we are uniquely positioned to deliver Personalised Healthcare. More about personalized healthcare at Roche
What we do	How we are making personalized healthcare a reality
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Investors

Access to healthcare

Material topic	Sustainable healthcare
Why is it material	For over 110 years, Roche’s primary contribution to improving global healthcare has been researching and developing new medicines and diagnostic tests that deliver significantly better treatment than those currently available. Our aim is to provide sustainable value by improving people’s health and by bringing clear medical and economic benefit to healthcare systems and society. Our approach to sustainability
What we do	Read more about our contribution to the UN SDGs
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations Payers Governments Media
Material topic	Growth strategy in emerging and developed markets
Why is it material	Ageing populations, rising healthcare costs, access to healthcare challenges, unmet medical need and new opportunities in emerging markets are driving rapid change in the healthcare market. Roche is responding to market challenges by developing innovative products that provide not only significant medical benefits for patients and doctors, but also efficiency gains for laboratories and health economic benefits for payers. More about how we are improving access to healthcare
What we do	Further examples of how we are making innovation accessible around the world
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations Payers Investors Governments Media Reporting: Economic Performance (GRI 201-1) Indirect Economic Impacts (GRI 203-2)
Material topic	Pricing
Why is it material	The pricing of medicines is an important topic and we understand that we are a part of this debate. As a developer of medicines, we realise that we have a responsibility to work with other key parties to ensure that patients can benefit from these medicines. Our position on pricing Our position on assessing the value of Roche products and services
What we do	More on how we are addressing affordability Examples of how we are making innovation accessible
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Patient organisations Payers Investors Governments Media

Great workplace

Material topic	Employee engagement and talent retention
Why is it material	Engagement is directly linked to our business success. Research shows that the level of engagement is a strong long-term predictor for organisational performance. Great companies are defined by people who embrace a shared sense of purpose, put extra energy and passion into their jobs and identify with common goals. That is the kind of engagement we aim for at Roche. Our employment policy
What we do	More about employee engagement
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees Governments Media Reporting: Employment (GRI 401-1) Labor/Management Relations (GRI 402-1) Training and Education (GRI 404-2) Diversity and Equal Opportunity (GRI 405-1) Diversity and Equal Opportunity (GRI 405-2) Non-discrimination (GRI 406-1) Security Practices (GRI 410-1)
Material topic	Executive compensation
Why is it material	We strive to create innovative products of benefit to patients. This requires outstanding performance by all our employees. It takes continuous innovation to help patients, sustain revenues and create long-term value. One of the primary aims of our remuneration policy is thus to encourage a long-term focus and align management’s interests with the interests of Roche’s shareholders and holders of Roche’s non-voting equity securities.
What we do	More about our Remuneration Committee
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Media Reporting: Market presence (GRI 202-1)
Material topic	Compensation/ benefits
Why is it material	We try to strike a balance between a highly competitive base salary and performance-linked rewards. In addition to bonuses linked to individual achievements, Roche offers rewards linked to the overall success of the company. Our remuneration policy
What we do	More about rewarding our employees
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees
Material topic	Leadership commitments
Why is it material	We believe that every Roche employee deserves a great leader, someone who inspires and engages the team with every interaction and who provides his or her employees with opportunities to discover, learn, develop and contribute continuously. This sentiment is captured in our leadership commitments which were developed in 2012 with input from many managers at different levels. They set clear expectations for all our people leaders at Roche and represent our leadership promise to our employees. Our leadership commitments
What we do	More about careers and development
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees
Material topic	Organisational effectiveness
Why is it material	The pharmaceutical industry is changing constantly. It regularly faces mergers and acquisitions and pressures from governments, payers and regulators. As a company, we must respond to these changes while also ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations.
What we do	More about how we manage organizational change
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees

Sustainable value

Material topic	Compliance
Why is it material	Compliance is our license to operate. It is fully embedded in our corporate strategy. We want to maintain high ethical and social standards in our business dealings, in our approach to medical science, in our efforts to protect the environment and ensure good citizenship. We will maintain these standards by adhering to local, national and international laws and cooperating with authorities and in proactively communicating with the public. We support and respect the human rights within the sphere of our influence. We recognize the need to work in partnership with our stakeholders, regularly seeking their views and taking them into account. Our Code of Conduct More about how we maintain compliance Our guidelines on behaviour in business Our guidelines on behavior in competition
What we do	More about business integrity
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Investors Payers Employees Governments Media Reporting: Environmental Compliance (GRI 307-1) Socioeconomic Compliance (GRI 419-1) Management Approach (GRI 103-2) Rights of Indigenous Peoples (GRI 411-1) Human Rights Assessment (GRI 412-1) Anti-corruption (GRI 205-1) Anti-competitive Behavior (GRI 206-1) General Disclosures (GRI 102-2) Customer Privacy (GRI 418-1)
Material topic	Environmental responsibility
Why is it material	Protecting the environment isn’t just a legal or social obligation, it’s integral to our strategy to run our business in a way that is ethical and aims to create long-term value for all stakeholders. We are committed to bringing more innovative medicines to more people around the world and to reducing our environmental impact as we do so. Our aim is to minimise our ecological footprint and to increase the use of renewable resources whilst continuing to expand our global business. More about our commitment to environmental sustainability Our position on Greenhouse Gases / Climate Change Our Safety, Health and Environmental Protection policy Our policy on Pollution, Prevention and Reduction Our position on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Our position on waste management Our position on energy conservation
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Governments Reporting: Materials (GRI 301-1) Energy (GRI 302-3) Water (GRI 303-1) Biodiversity (GRI 303-3) Emissions (GRI 305-4) Effluents and Waste (GRI 306-1)
Material topic	Occupational accidents
Why is it material	Absences from work due to occupational accidents and occupational diseases (including unhealthy stress) has a negative impact on the company. Providing a safe and healthy workplace for our employees is therefore a priority. Our Safety, Health and Environmental Protection policy
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees Reporting: Occupational Health and Safety (GRI 403-1)
Material topic	Community engagement
Why is it material	Roche is committed to sustainable philanthropic activities, which span community involvement, humanitarian projects, science, education, art and culture. Our goal is to establish long-term partnerships by focusing on projects that add lasting value to society. Our Philanthropic Donations and non-commercial Sponsorship Policy
What we do	More on our philanthropic activities
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Employees Reporting: Human Rights Assessment (GRI 412-39 Local Communities (GRI 413-1) Public Policy (GRI 415-1)
Material topic	Supply chain management
Why is it material	We integrate sustainable thinking and practices throughout our supply chain. The goal is to respond quickly to market developments and ensure reliable product supplies, while reducing our environmental footprint and ensuring high social standards.
What we do	More about how we manage our supply chain
GRI Standard Reporting	Aspect boundaries: Suppliers and service providers Reporting: Procurement Practices (GRI 204-1) Supplier Environmental Assessment (GRI 308-2) Supplier Social Assessment (GRI 414-2) Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining (GRI 407-1) Child Labor (GRI 408-1) Forced or Compulsory Labor (GRI 409-1) Supplier Social Assessment (GRI 414-1)