Novartis : releases 2013 Corporate Responsibility Performance Report using best-in-class reporting standard, increasing transparency »

• 2013 Corporate Responsibility (CR) Performance Report builds on a long history of CR and reporting
  
• Report uses new Global Reporting Initiative G4 guidelines, one year ahead of required implementation
  
• Report features increased transparency on key areas including human resources, supply chain and ethics

"Our corporate responsibility work is embedded in our business strategy, which is to use science-based innovation to improve patient health around the world. This would not be possible without ensuring trust among our stakeholders," said Joseph Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis. "We understand and respect the need to build trust through greater transparency and disclosure."

The Performance Report enhances the company's transparency in several key areas, including in human resources, supply chain and ethics, and aims to meet the needs and expectations of CR professional audiences by offering easy access to key data. The report also details progress against Novartis priorities, defined following a CR materiality analysis completed in 2013.

"We are proud of our progress in 2013 to help improve access to medicine and do business in a responsible way," said Juergen Brokatzky-Geiger, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility. "We take this responsibility very seriously - because it's the right thing to do for society and the right thing to do for our business."

The company has a strong history of CR activities, and transparent reporting is a central part of our commitment to corporate responsibility. Novartis has publicly reported on our performance in this area since 2000 through its Annual Report and several online and printed materials. The 2013 CR Performance Report consolidates information previously published in our separate GRI; Health, Safety and Environment; and United Nations Global Compact reports. In 2013, Novartis made a number of changes to ensure more oversight of CR, including expanding the mandate of a Board of Directors committee to oversee corporate responsibility strategy and governance at the highest levels of the company.

The GRI's fourth generation of CR reporting guidelines, G4, were launched in May 2013. They emphasize the need for companies to focus on the process of identifying topics that are material for corporate responsibility in their specific business and among their key stakeholders.

Highlights of Novartis achievements in 2013 include:

• Provided medicine to more than 100 million patients as well as health education, infrastructure development and other programs to another 8.1 million people worldwide
• Developed affordable vaccines for typhoid and paratyphoid A fevers, through the Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health
• Joined Malaria No More's Power of One campaign and committed to donate up to 1 million pediatric antimalarial treatments every year through 2015
• Reached 4.5 million people with health education through "Healthy Family" Social Ventures in India, Kenya and Vietnam; programs recognized through several industry awards
• Worked with leading leprosy experts through the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development to develop a new strategy to help eliminate the disease
• Completed a best-in-class materiality assessment - based on surveys and interviews with approximately 100 internal and external stakeholders
• Launched Responsible Procurement, a new integrated approach to ethical issues in our supply chain including labor rights, health, safety and environment, animal welfare, and anti-bribery
• One of only six healthcare companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
• Included in the new UN 100 Index as one of the best performing companies regarding adherence to the Global Compact's 10 principles
• Reached Novartis employees worldwide with Code of Conduct training via e-learning; over 113 000 associates completed certification
• Saved 2.65 million gigajoules and USD 68 million through energy projects, achieving the 2015 Novartis target two years ahead of time

Find out more about our corporate responsibility activities online at http://www.novartis.com/corporate-responsibility/index.shtml.

Disclaimer
This press release contains expressed or implied forward-looking statements, including statements that can be identified by terminology such as "strategy," "aims," "commitment," "committed," "launched," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These expectations could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section of Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update it in the future.

About Novartis
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, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2013, the Group achieved net sales of USD 57.9 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 135,000 full-time-equivalent associates and sell products in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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