Global Compact International Yearbook 2016

the risk of expansion in Africa. Beyond
medicines, Sanofi is strongly committed
to awareness, education, and prevention
programs with local communities. The
“Schoolchildren against Malaria” program
provides educational tools to help teachers
educate children in Africa. Nearly
8 million children in 15 African countries
have been sensitized to the fight against
malaria. We collaborate with National
Malaria Control Programs and local NGOs
in a program to train educators, mainly
about how to manage malaria. Finally,
Sanofi is part of a collective process to
develop knowledge about malaria and its
treatment. We share data from clinical
studies conducted with the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine, and we
develop means of surveillance in the
countries most affected by the disease,
in partnership with National Malaria
Control Programs and DNDi.
Tackling climate-sensitive neglected
tropical diseases
As pointed out by WHO, the risk factors
around leishmaniasis include poverty,
malnutrition, and population mobility
but also climate change, as changes in
rainfall, temperature, and humidity are
factors that may impact the epidemiology
of the disease. Sanofi provides glucantime,
a treatment on the WHO List
of Essential medicines, at a preferential
price. In October 2015, Sanofi and the
Institut Pasteur de Tunis signed a partnership
agreement to launch a program
aimed at combating cutaneous leishmaniasis
in the school environment. This
awareness-raising program is centered
on the distribution of 70,000 comics
(available in both French and Arabic)
to schoolchildren in seven governorates
where leishmaniasis is endemic. The
program was launched in March 2016.
Asthma and allergies
Allergies are common and some are climate-sensitive.
Warmer conditions generally
favor the production and release
of airborne allergies and, consequently,
there may be an effect on asthma and
other respiratory diseases. In May 2015,
Sanofi and Regeneron announced positive
pivotal phase 2b dupilumab data in
adult patients with moderate-to-severe
asthma who are uncontrolled despite
treatment with inhaled corticosteroids
and long-acting beta agonists. The companies
also announced the initiation of
a phase III clinical trial of dupilumab in
patients with uncontrolled persistent
asthma.
Continuing our efforts in mitigating
climate change
We also fully recognize our responsibility
to mitigate climate change and are
actively seeking to develop innovative
solutions to mitigate our impact on
the environment. By taking concrete
and scalable actions to mitigate climate
change, we are contributing to immediate
public health and economic cobenefits
for the communities where we
operate while reducing our impact on
the climate. Through partnerships with
energy providers, infrastructure developers,
and research bodies, we aim to
develop groundbreaking solutions that
will have positive impacts on the health
of the planet and people. For instance, we
have installed a natural gas connection
at our Swiftwater site in Pennsylvania.
The project consisted of piping natural
gas to the site and converting existing
boilers to burn natural gas. The expected
impact of using natural gas instead of
light fuel oil represents an annual decrease
in CO 2
emissions amounting to
10,000 tons / year at this site alone. Moreover,
we decreased our CO 2
emissions by
24 percent between 2010 and 2015
by using maritime transport. Today,
86 percent of our international shipments
are sent by sea. In 2015, we reduced
our CO 2
emissions by 15.8 percent
compared to 2010 (scopes 1 and 2).
The future
Sanofi will continue to commit to tackling
climate-sensitive diseases, for which
we have a strong expertise. We will endeavor
to offer adapted solutions for
these diseases that may be impacted by
climate change.
According to WHO, climate change may
have had a role in the spread of the Zika
virus. In February 2016, we announced
that – building on our successful history
in developing vaccines against similar viruses,
including dengue – we are launching
a vaccine research and development
project targeting the prevention of infections
and diseases related to the Zika virus.
We will also assess any opportunities to
work with partners to promote awareness
about the impacts of climate change
on health, as collaborative efforts are
needed to tackle what The Lancet calls
“the biggest global health threat of the
21st century.”
Global Compact International Yearbook 2016 99