Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

BB Biotech actively integrates ESG into its portfolio companies by engaging with management teams, voting at general meetings, and fostering dialogue. This ongoing collaboration is key to addressing ESG concerns and reflects a continuous learning process for all parties.

For listed portfolio companies, BB Biotech collects data from public platforms and ESG questionnaires. Over its more than 30-year history, the company has continually refined its approach to responsible investing, recognizing that it remains a dynamic and evolving process. Responsible investing has been central to BB Biotech since its founding in 1993.

Through investments in biotech companies, BB Biotech contributes to improving global health by supporting the development of new drugs for unmet medical needs, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 to ensure healthy lives and well-being for all.

SDGs at Board of Directors of BB Biotech AG and the Investment Manager level:

The five SDGs considered most relevant for BB Biotech on Board of Director and Investment Manager level are: good health and well-being (3), quality education (4), gender equality (5), decent work and economic growth (8) and climate action (13). This is where BB Biotech can have the most significant impact. Those material SDG’s are highlighted in color below:

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Through our biotech expertise and investments, we aim to improve people’s health. Supporting good health and well-being is central to BB Biotech’s strategy. Providing capital and guidance to develop new drugs addressing unmet medical needs, such as rare disorders, cancer, and chronic diseases, is a priority for the Board and Investment Manager. The goal is to enhance patients’ quality of life, ideally curing diseases and benefiting society. Many portfolio companies align with UN Sustainable Goal 3, promoting health for all. By backing biotech innovation, BB Biotech advances medical research and global healthcare improvements.

Also in 2024, substantial medical breakthroughs could be marked through approvals of new drugs from BB Biotech’s portfolio companies. So did Vertex receive approval for Casgevy, the first medicine using CRISPR/CAS9 (novel gene-editing technology) to treat transfusion-dependent beta Thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease. Esperion saw a label expansion of its medicine Nexletol which helps reducing the risk of cardiovascular events. Moreover, Moderna got mResvia approved, a novel drug that protects older adults against RSV infection. Additionally, Argenx’s Vyvgart Hytrulo was approved a new drug which is used for the treatment of adult patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Looking ahead, we anticipate that these companies will continue to secure approvals for several additional groundbreaking drugs.

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

BB Biotech encourages continuing education for all employees and promotes life-long learning.

By the end of 2024 Bellevue Asset Management introduced an employee and training directive; Bellevue empowers every employee to take advantage of training and development opportunities commensurate with their position and function and supports the personal and professional development activities of its employees. As of 2025, training and development activities will systematically be tracked and reported.

Further social employee practices are presented below in the Sustainability at Investment Management Level section.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

BB Biotech fosters a culture of gender equality and promote a balanced mix of gender and age across all hierarchical levels and functions of the company.

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

BB Biotech and its delegated Investment Manager offer attractive, family-friendly working condition, promotes diversity, has a competitive salary policy with equal pay for women and men, and is committed to the training and development of its employees.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

BB Biotech and its delegated Investment Manager ensure that responsible operational ecology contributes to CO₂ reduction. Necessary operational emissions that cannot be further reduced are compensated for by purchasing CO₂ emission certificates in the amount of the greenhouse gas emissions emitted each year ensuring our CO₂ neutrality commitment.

SDGs at portfolio level:

Portfolio level relates to the portfolio companies that BB Biotech are invested in. At the portfolio level UN SDG’s are considered in order to derive the proportion of «sustainable investments» (c.f. also chapter «Proportion of ESG investments»). The concept of «Sustainable investments» introduces a positive contribution to an environmental and/or a social objective while not significantly harming any of these objectives. Furthermore, the portfolio companies must apply practices of good corporate governance.

ESG research provider MSCI ESG measures the target contribution of companies to each of the SDGs and categorizes them as «strongly aligned», «aligned», «neutral», «misaligned» and «strongly misaligned». A positive contribution to an environmental or social objective hence requires a company to exhibit a positive alignment with at least one of the 17 UN SDGs and at the same time not negatively influence any other SDG.

As at December 31, 2024, BB Biotech AG exhibits a share of 73% in sustainable investments. Thereby, the portfolio contributes to the following 7 UN SDGs that are marked in colour:

Some of BB Biotech’s portfolio companies positively contribute to UN SDG No.1 (No Poverty), No.3 (Good Health & Well-Being), No.5 (Gender Equality), No.8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), No. 10 (Reduced Inequalities), No. 13 (Climate Action) as well as to No. 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). Innovative biotech companies play a key role in contributing to the underlying objectives of «Good Health and Well-Being».

According to MSCI ESG’s SDG alignment methodology, the following core portfolio holdings are positively aligned with the narrowly defined goals under UN SDG No.3 (Good Healh & Well-Being): Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Incyte, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Neurocrine, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Agios Pharmaceuticals and Argenx.