Compliance

As a family-run company, we have a long tradition of social responsibility towards our customers, suppliers, employees, and the public. Part of this social responsibility is that we always and everywhere act according to the rules and laws that apply to us (compliance).

This is an essential core of our corporate culture and is always a priority for all of us. Not only the production and distribution of medicinal products is regulated to a high degree for the benefit of the patient. As a medium-sized, family-run company and as a pioneer in the field of herbal remedies, we set ourselves particularly high standards. Our customers have trusted us for more than 85 years. We want to live up to this trust.

We have set high standards not only for our products, but also for our administrative processes. For this reason, Bionorica decided early on to establish a comprehensive Compliance Management System (CMS), which we are constantly adapting to both the changing requirements of the industry and our rapid corporate development.

Our CMS – systematic compliance

Our compliance management system aims to prevent violations of rules and regulations in the company to recognize any wrongdoing and to be able to react appropriately. The formal design of our CMS is based on the guidelines of the recognized compliance standard “Audit of Compliance Management Systems” of the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany, Incorporated Association. This standard describes the following basic elements of a CMS:

We have defined various requirements and processes within the respective basic elements, which ensure the effectiveness of our compliance measures. At this point, we would like to introduce you to some of the elements of our CMS that are particularly important to us.

Our compliance culture – Code of Conduct as a guideline for daily practice

The effectiveness of a compliance management system (CMS) is essentially shaped by the attitude of management and employees (compliance culture). An appropriate compliance culture prevails when management and employees have internalized that compliance with external and internal requirements is an integral part of day-to-day activities. Ensuring a common understanding of the importance of responsible and honest action is therefore a key goal of our CMS.

Bionorica has created an internal code of conduct to set global standards for the behaviour of all employees. The Code of Conduct of Bionorica SE is a binding guideline for all of us in our daily work. It describes our ethical principles and provides obligatory guidelines for action and orientation of every employee.

The following eight guidelines form an integral part of our Code of Conduct:

• We have deep respect for nature and people.
• We are trustworthy, honest partners for whom legal behavior and mutual respect are a matter of great importance. Our high ethical principles are the key to our success.
• We research for a better and greener world. With Phytoneering we bring the healing and health preserving power of nature back to people.
• We share our findings at training and information events. When working with the Health Care Professionals, we uphold the principles of transparency, equivalence and documentation.
• We act sustainably and are happy to fulfil our social responsibility. We are committed to society and science, to environmental and climate protection, to our employees and our young people.
• We are committed to long-term, fair cooperation for human rights and fair working conditions all over the world.
• We avoid conflicts of interest between work and private life.
• We live a corporate culture in which equal opportunities and the personal rights of our employees, especially respect for one another, are very important.

Code of Conduct for our partners

We also want to evaluate our partners by our standards. We expect our business partners to act legally and ethically. Therefore, in addition to the internal code of conduct, we have also developed a Code of Conduct for Bionorica suppliers and service providers. The obligation to comply with its provisions is part of every contractual relationship with suppliers. To be able to effectively check compliance with the requirements, we reserve appropriate examination rights and, in the event of proven violations, appropriate options to react.

Compliance organization – always there for you!

Clear guidelines also require clear responsibilities. Bionorica has therefore created a central compliance organization headed by the Chief Compliance Officer, which defines and coordinates our group-wide compliance measures. In addition, all employees and external third parties can of course contact us at any time with questions and requests.

In particular, we would like to encourage you to contact us if you feel that we can do better in individual areas.

Compliance program – binding guidelines for practice

Based on the identified risks, we develop guidelines and processes for the compliance challenges of daily work. These are regulated in specification documents and are always binding for our employees. Adherence to the principles described is ensured by appropriate control measures, such as approval requirements and/or a multiple control principle.