Climate change-related financial impacts and other risks and opportunities for the organisation’s activities
Climatic influences on medicinal plant cultivation
Bionorica has medicinal plants cultivated for its phytopharmaceuticals in more than ten countries, especially in climatically and geologically suitable regions of Europe.
The company relies on a multi-supplier strategy as a precaution against possible weather-induced crop failures, for example, which may be caused by global climate change. Examples include floods, dry periods and drought, and late or early frost. Procurement risks can never be ruled out entirely. However, Bionorica succeeded in managing these risks in the 2021 reporting year in such a way that procurement risks exerted no influence. Not only the weather, but also soil conditions and harvesting conditions may result in fluctuations in the active ingredient content of a medicinal plant. However, a consistently high quality of medicinal plants is one of the prerequisites for the production of phytopharmaceuticals with good, reproducible efficacy.
For this reason, Bionorica pays strict attention to compliance with GACP standards (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices) in the cultivation, harvesting and post-harvest processes. The term “Good Agricultural and Collection Practices” refers to the quality assurance guidelines that should be adhered to when extracting herbal source materials for the production of herbal medicinal products.
We view climate change not only as a challenge, but also as an opportunity. For example, climate change is driving the trend among many consumers towards greater awareness of nature and the environment: many patients now want to rely more on herbal remedies.
Sustainable company management
In order to ensure that patients can be supplied in a worst-case scenario, Bionorica refrains from “working capital optimisation”, i.e. minimising tied-up capital by reducing inventories, for example. Instead, we always keep comparatively large stocks of herbal raw materials in the high-bay warehouse at our main business location in Neumarkt so we can compensate for any crop failures.