Our Focus
Our Approach to Sustainability
The Linical Group has formulated a Sustainability Policy based on its Management Philosophy and will promote sustainability management in line with this policy.
The company has established a Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Administrative Officer. The committee, which consists of CXOs and the people in charge of related divisions, formulates priority measures on key sustainability issues, rolls them out internally, monitors their progress, and promotes sustainability initiatives throughout the company. In addition, the committee also reports regularly to the Board of Directors and the Management Committee on the state of sustainability initiatives, etc.
Key Topics
Sustainability Initiatives
Strategy
As a CRO, the Linical Group’s main business is contract clinical drug development, and the development of innovative drugs is positioned as an important social issue that we address through our business itself. Our group has been strategically addressing this issue through the implementation of the Medium-Term Management Vision and the Medium-Term Management Plan for the fiscal year ending March 2025, which were formulated based on the management policy of focusing on specific disease areas where unmet medical needs are high and clinical trials are difficult. In the next Medium-Term Management Plan, we will also identify focus areas for each region and expand the management resources necessary to achieve these goals. Our workforce is the most important of these resources, so we have established policies, indicators and targets for human resource development and the improvement of the internal environment, including ensuring the diversity of human resources, and are expanding our human capital.
The Linical Group has established a Compliance Committee, which is co-chaired by the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) and the Global Head of Ethics and Compliance. This committee deals with governance, risk management and important issues related to compliance.
We share a Code of Business Conduct and an Ethics and Compliance Program as our basic policy on compliance, and we strive to raise awareness of ethics and compliance among officers and employees by implementing education and awareness-raising activities continuously. Moreover, we have established a hotline to prevent and detect compliance problems at an early stage.
The Compliance Committee collects and analyzes the required data, confirms the state of observance and penetration of compliance, and takes the necessary measures. The committee reports on the details of those activities to the Board of Directors.
Our group has established the "Linical Group Basic Environmental Policy" and is promoting effective use of resources and initiatives to address climate change. Recognizing that social and environmental issues caused by climate change are an urgent issue, we have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are working to achieve them. We also collect and analyze necessary data in accordance with the concept of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
Climate Action
As a company that plays a part in the drug supply chain, our company regards the identification and reduction of GHG emissions as an important issue and is advancing initiatives towards the realization of the decarbonized society that the Paris Agreement aims for. Additionally, Linical’s GHG targets have been validated by the SBTi.
About the Science Based Targets Initiative
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a corporate climate action organization that enables companies and financial institutions worldwide to play their part in combating the climate crisis.
Governance
Governance
At Linical, the Sustainability Committee formulates and monitors strategies on climate change and reports the details to the Board of Directors. Based on reports from the Sustainability Committee, the Board of Directors deliberates and supervises our group's efforts to address climate change.
Strategy
Strategy
We measure and monitor Scope1,2 and 3 emissions based on the GHG Protocol to grasp the complete picture of the GHG emissions in our company’s supply chain. The Sustainability Committee confirms the impact of the opportunities and risks of climate change on the Group's business model, which is centered on providing clinical trial-related services such as contract monitoring services, with reference to the scenario analysis of the customers and pharmaceutical companies we serve. We have evaluated that the impact on business of transition risks, such as increased costs due to carbon pricing and stricter regulations. Those impacts will not be large at the Linical Group, which does not have manufacturing facilities and does not require the procurement of raw materials. On the other hand, we recognize the following as physical risks and opportunities, and are responding to each in turn.
|
Physical risk |
Opportunity |
|
Temporary suspension of operations at business sites due to the interruption of energy or communication networks, etc., due to a large-scale natural disaster |
Increased development of new drugs by customers (pharmaceutical companies) in response to epidemics of tropical diseases and emerging infectious diseases |
|
Decline in the level of operations due to an emerging infectious disease epidemic |
We have formulated a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to address the physical risks above and are reviewing it and implementing training continuously. In addition, we will expand our bases, including Southeast Asia and the Southern Hemisphere, to contribute to the development of drugs for the diseases above.
Risk Management
Risk Management
With regard to climate change risks, the Sustainability Committee analyzes the company group’s GHG emission risks, makes recommendations to the Risk Management Committee, and monitors them.
Metrics and Targets
Metrics and Targets
Linical’s SBTi-verified near-term targets:
Linical Co., Ltd. commits to reduce absolute scope 2 GHG emissions by 58.8% by FY2034 from a FY2023 base year. Linical Co., Ltd. also commits that 75% of its suppliers by emissions covering purchased goods and services and business travel will have science-based targets by FY2029