Lek, a Sandoz company, joins forces to help others for the 11th year in a row

Lek, a Sandoz company, has once again organised the Community Partnership Day – a global Novartis initiative under which associates from all Novartis divisions in Slovenia offer help as volunteers to individuals and non-governmental organizations for about one month.
For the past 11 years of organised voluntary work, Novartis Slovenia has become a good example, which has encouraged other companies in Slovenia to conduct such programs, as well.
Altogether, 11 years of volunteering by Novartis associates in Slovenia means: nearly 26,000 hours of voluntary work and help given to more than 11,000 people and nearly 50 organizations.

21. 4. 2015

Novartis associates from all divisions across Slovenia, in Ljubljana, Mengeš, Lendava, Kranjska Gora and Prevalje, have joined forces on the occasion of already the 11th Community Partnership Day focusing their energy on helping individuals and non-governmental organisations. Lending a helping hand as volunteers in April and May, they will touch the lives of people across Slovenia, from Piran to Lendava. Throughout these years, Lek pensioners have regularly joined the volunteering employees, which has nurtured intergenerational cooperation in the company.

This is a positive initiative that was brought to Slovenia by Novartis, when it acquired Lek in the end of 2002. By participating in the Community Partnership Day, employees of Lek, a Sandoz company, in Slovenia join more than 24.000 colleagues in Novartis who live corporate responsibility in more than 55 countries around the world.

»At Lek, a Sandoz company, we have many volunteers, who daily give a helping hand and do something good in the environment where they live. We started this kind of organized volunteering eleven years ago. We are pleased that we have become a good role model throughout these past years and that we have contributed to the fact that other companies in Slovenia now organise similar programs, as this enables more people to receive the help they need. We named this program a Community Partnership Day, as it marks 21 April, the day on which Novartis was established. However, there are so many activities being organised that are carrying on for over a month, this year from 13 April to 26 May,« said Katarina Klemenc, Head of Corporate Communication at Lek, a Sandoz company.

Lek, a Sandoz company, together with its associates, collects proposals for assisting individuals and organisations in the local environment every year. This year, the following activities are included in the Community Partnership Day:

collecting food and personal hygiene items for the Slovenian Friends of Youth, Red Cross and homeless;
organising a fun day for residents of homes for the elderly in Ljubljana, Mengeš and Prevalje;
blood donation;
helping individuals and organisations in need of support:
- maintaining the surroundings of the Slovenian Friends of Youth resorts in Pacug and Piran,
- taking children will special needs to visit the House of Experiments,
- landscape the surroundings for the Mali Dom in Šiška – Training, Occupation and Care Center Dolfka Boštjančič,
- refurbishing the playground at the Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired Children Ljubljana,
- distributing food to the homeless in Ljubljana,
- maintaining the surroundings and refurbishing the walls of the Special Education Center Janez Levec in Jarše and at the Levstik square in Ljubljana,
- revival of wells in the Kočevje region as a part of the clean-up operation in the municipality of Kočevje »Kočevska Cleanup 2015«,
- organising a sports day and creativity workshops for children at the Lendava Bilingual Primary School II,
- organising a fun day at Hotel Lek in Kranjska Gora for children with special needs attending the Polde Stražišar primary school in Jesenice,
- afforestation in Logatec and
- maintaining the surroundings of the facility for rescue team training in Jezersko.

* * *

Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of key pillars of the second-largest generic pharmaceutical company globally. Its role within Sandoz is to act as: a leading global development center for technologically demanding products and technologies; a global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines; a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products; a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar products; and, a supply center for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South East Europe (SEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and it is responsible for sales on the Slovenian market. For further information please visit http://www.lek.si/en.

Sandoz, a division of Novartis, is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals, driving sustainable access to high-quality healthcare. Sandoz employs more than 26,000 people worldwide and supplies a broad range of affordable products to patients and customers around the globe.
The Sandoz global portfolio comprises approximately 1,100 molecules, which accounted for 2014 sales of USD 9.6 billion. Sandoz holds the global #1 position in biosimilars as well as in generic anti-infectives, ophthalmics and transplantation medicines. Sandoz also holds leading global positions in key therapeutic areas ranging from generic injectables, dermatology and respiratory to cardiovascular, metabolism, central nervous system, pain and gastrointestinal.
Sandoz develops, produces and markets finished dosage form (FDF) medicines as well as intermediary products including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and biotechnological substances. Nearly half of the Sandoz portfolio is in differentiated products – medicines that are scientifically more difficult to develop and manufacture than standard generics.
In addition to strong organic growth since consolidating its generics businesses under the Sandoz brand name in 2003, Sandoz has consistently driven growth in selected geographies and differentiated product areas through a series of targeted acquisitions, including Hexal (Germany), EBEWE Pharma (Austria), and Fougera Pharmaceuticals (US).
Sandoz is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Sandoz_global at http://twitter.com/Sandoz_Global.

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, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and over-the-counter products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2014, the Group achieved net sales of USD 58.0 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 130,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit 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.

- end -

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