Lek associates open their hearts
Ljubljana, October 3 – On the day after the inhabitants of the Municipality of Železniki were struck by the terrible forces of nature, Lek, a Sandoz company, offered assistance and initiated a humanitarian campaign. Up to the present we have collected 26,000 euros, and the associates’ humanitarian campaign will continue up to October 9.
The first part of the funds, amounting to 10,000 euros, has already been sent to the municipality. It was earmarked for repairing the Health Center, which was heavily damaged in the strong storm and is currently unable to provide healthcare services. All of their equipment is unusable, so we decided that in addition to assistance in the form of medicines we would also donate five computers to the doctors and pharmacists, so that they would be able to get back to normal work as quickly as possible. More
In the humanitarian campaign initiated by Lek, we are not trying to help only those receiving medical assistance, but also want to contribute to helping individual families. Therefore we will be allocating 16,000 euros, which the Lek Trade Union had earmarked for New Year’s gifts for its members, for the purchase of household equipment so that the inhabitants of Železniki can reestablish normal living conditions as soon as possible.
The funds that Lek associates will collect up to October 9 will be earmarked for employees of Domel, one of four companies in the Municipality of Železniki, which together employ over 2,000 people. We hope that our contribution will help them to rebuild the production capacities at the company as well as the homes of the employees as soon as possible.
With the humanitarian campaign initiated on the day after the disaster, Lek associates displayed their solidarity and have already collected a considerable amount of money for the rebuilding of affected areas and assistance for their inhabitants. In addition, many Lek associates have also visited the affected area and brought clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils and games for the townspeople.
Lek Pharmaceuticals has always done all it could during numerous natural disasters, and this time as well we are trying as hard as we can to do our part to help the unfortunate but courageous people who faced the fury of nature. We especially want to help those who most need our assistance: children, patients and the elderly.
Through its corporate citizenship, Lek is helping to create a better future and contributing to the solving of social problems. Contributing to the maintaining of health and a better quality of life is a component part of our mission, through which we try to create a responsible and partnership relationship with the social environment and with individuals.
Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the pillars of leading world generics company Sandoz. It operates as a global development center for products and technologies, as a global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines, as a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products, as a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products and as a supply center for the markets of CEE, SEE and CIS, sales Slovenia and sales services for Sandoz’s global markets. Lek d.d. employs about 2,820 people and achieved total sales of USD 904 million in 2006. For further information please consult http://www.lek.si
Sandoz, a Division of the Novartis group, is a global leader in the field of generic pharmaceuticals, offering a wide array of high-quality, affordable products that are no longer protected by patents. Sandoz has a portfolio of more than 840 active substances in over 5 000 forms worldwide. Key product groups include antibiotics, treatments for central nervous system disorders, gastrointestinal medicines, cardiovascular treatments and hormone therapies. Sandoz develops, produces and markets these drugs along with pharmaceutical and biotechnological active substances and anti-infectives. In addition to the strong organic growth in recent years, Sandoz has made a series of acquisitions including Lek (Slovenia), Sabex (Canada), Hexal (Germany) and EonLabs (U.S.) and sells its products in more than 110 countries. In 2006, Sandoz employed around 21,000 people worldwide and posted sales of USD 6 billion.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in offering medicines to protect health, cure disease and improve well-being. Our goal is to discover, develop and successfully market innovative products to treat patients, ease suffering and enhance the quality of life. Novartis is the only company with leadership positions in both patented and generic pharmaceuticals. We are strengthening our medicine-based portfolio, which is focused on strategic growth platforms in innovation-driven pharmaceuticals, high-quality and low-cost generics and leading self-medication OTC brands. In 2006, the Group’s businesses achieved net sales of USD 37.0 billion and net income of USD 7.2 billion. Approximately USD 5.4 billion was invested in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 101,000 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
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.
For further information contact:
Katarina Klemenc Dinjaški
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d.
Phone: + 386 1 580 22 43
Fax: + 386 1 580 24 32
communications.lek@sandoz.com