Bristol Myers Squibb’s Social Impact & Sustainability Efforts

At Bristol Myers Squibb, we provide employees at all levels with resources related to unconscious bias and diversity insights. In addition, we offer a broad range of best-in-class professional training and education for the career advancement and leadership development of employees.

Tomorrow's Innovators is an initiative that builds a sustainable bridge for diverse talent from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to the biopharma industry. Its conception is another step toward creating an equitable future for Black talent in healthcare. Through collaboration with the HBCUs, Tomorrow’s Innovators will co-create custom biopharma programming, develop a two-way leadership exchange program for collaboration and research purposes, increase HBCU talent recruitment, and attract executive-level Black talent. Together, we’ll build the incubator for the industry’s future leaders to create a more diverse and equitable future in healthcare.

As part of our long-term work to advance diversity in clinical trials, Bristol Myers Squibb established a Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative in 2019 and accelerated those efforts in 2020 as part of a series of commitments to Health Equity and Diversity and Inclusion along with adopting the PhRMA members’ new clinical trial diversity principles. The objective of the BMS Diversity in Clinical Trials program is to improve recruitment of diverse patients in our clinical trials. In line with our 2020 commitments, our ambition is to locate 25% of U.S. clinical trial sites in highly diverse communities by 2022.

We removed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from our bottles. We also make sure suppliers share our commitment. We continue to explore opportunities to eliminate PVC as technical alternatives become available.

Global Packaging instituted the Sustainable Packaging Design Guideline. Simplified the ABILIFY (aripiprazole) insert which resulted in 70 tons less paper used per year.

Our Green Chemistry program helps scientists and engineers reduce energy consumption, hazardous materials and waste generation in manufacturing through the Process Greenness Scorecard.

We have committed to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2040. We have implemented programs to drive the diversion of our waste destined for landfill to more environmentally friendly options, including waste-to-energy facilities, composting options, increased recycling of single-use technology bio-bags, and other forward-thinking material management technologies.

Water is a precious resource, and, for our sector, the production and use of high-quality water is essential to making effective and safe medicines. To this end, we look for ways to reduce our consumption and find better mechanisms of treatment. We have corporate standards and guidelines that meet or exceed local requirements regarding the treatment and management of wastewater effluents.

Neighbors help neighbors. Together with our nonprofit partners, Bristol Myers Squibb works to improve access to treatment and eliminate health disparities for those that live in and around the communities we also call home. Working with our nonprofit partners, we’re able to provide programs that address the health challenges of our underserved citizens.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s approach to access aligns with our overall commitment to transform treatment and defeat serious conditions worldwide. We support efforts to ensure broad and equitable access to medicines and healthcare services in low-, middle- and high-income countries. BMS follows a set of principles that guide its access work:
• We tailor our approach to circumstances: Access challenges and solutions are context dependent. To be effective, strategies must be adapted and address critical bottlenecks hindering access locally. 
• We partner with other stakeholders: Collaboration across sectors is required to address access challenges at scale. We work in partnership with governments and other key stakeholders.
• We focus on sustainable and holistic solutions: NCDs are mostly chronic diseases and require a level of continuity, adherence to treatment and follow-up that is not present with many infectious diseases.