Investing in companies in the life sciences industry will inevitably raise moral issues that in many cases are the subject of (scientific) public debate, such as the use of various forms of human stem cells and genetically engineered or modified plants. When we select and decide upon investments in companies, we take these issues very seriously as we are striving to maintain high ethical and social standards.

We do this for example by:

• Adhering to national and international guidelines and legislation
• Regularly requesting and carefully considering the views of our stakeholders
• (Proactively) communicating and cooperating with competent authorities when necessary
• Requesting independent advice from the senior advisors and industry experts that we work with, in the fields of (amongst others) biology, medicine, ethics and law
• Regularly monitoring the publications and discussions on the main sources for ethical values in the countries that we operate from, such as the Swiss Centre for Ethics and Health (www.ethik.uzh.ch)
• Using our best efforts to make sure that the companies we (intend to) invest in do the same and adhere to the same core ethical values