Successfully Conducted Safety and Rescue Drill at Lek Ljubljana

  • In accordance with Novartis internal rules on the readiness of the employees in the event of danger and bearing in mind the safety of its employees and the wider community, Lek carries out annual safety and rescue drills at all its sites across Slovenia; this year it took place in Ljubljana. 
  • The purpose of the safety and rescue drill was primarily to raise the awareness of employees, and to check the functionality of safety systems and competency of the in-house rescue and relief services.
  • With this drill, Lek has further strengthened cooperation with the safety and rescue services and representatives from the police.  
26. 6. 2018

Today, a rescue drill was successfully carried out at the Lek Ljubljana site that further strengthened the skills and competency of the employees, safety and rescue services and external participants in the event of an emergency. At the drill that was prepared in cooperation with the Slovenian police, they simulated the abduction of a director of one of the units and the consequent evacuation of employees. In addition to a number of participating company employees, 13 officers from special police units and two police patrols also took part in the drill.

With today’s drill, Lek wanted primarily to check the functionality of all parts of the safety and security system and the adequacy of procedures and instructions in case of critical events in the company. In addition, they wanted to check the competencies of the in-house safety and security services and raise awareness among the employees about the appropriate reaction in real-life situations and thereby ensure maximum safety in the event of a real unexpected dangerous incident. During the drill, there were around 1200 employees and external participants at the site, who carried out the drill as planned and evacuated the buildings in the shortest possible time. 

»Safety is one of our core values. In order to provide it, we need to, in addition to ensuring a harmonised operation of corporate security services, cooperate with national authorities in charge of public safety. A successful exercise is proof of good cooperation with representatives of the police and I thank them for their dedicated and selfless work. This is indispensable, both in real-life situations as well as at drills such as the one carried out today,« commented Marko Potokar, Head of Security at Novartis Slovenia on the completion of the rescue drill. The participating employees showed a high level of readiness and awareness in the event of a critical situation, and the experience gained will be useful to supplement and update the security/safety system and plans for dealing with such circumstances. 

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Novartis is the leading provider of medicines in Slovenia, where Lek, Novartis Pharma Services and Sandoz, operate. Together we are building and maintaining the reputation of a dynamic, ethical, and trusted pharmaceutical company. Lek develops, manufactures, and markets effective, safe, and high quality medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients. With our knowledge, quality, and experience we have gained an important role in Novartis' organizational structure, especially in the Novartis Technical Operations, Global Drug Development, Novartis Business Services, and the generic division Sandoz. We are the leading Sandoz development center, and one of the key development sites for technologically complex projects. We invest a great deal in the development, education, and training of our employees. Novartis invested in Slovenia more than EUR 2 billion since 2003. More than half of this investment has been devoted to development, and the rest to modernize and expand our production capacities.

Sandoz is a global leader in generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. We contribute to society’s ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached more than 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.
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Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.1 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 122,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.

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For additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications 
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com