Chiesi Grupe: Creating Shared Value for Patients, Society, and Environment

Family-owned Chiesi Group develops and markets medicines to treat respiratory conditions and rare diseases

What Chiesi Grupe can teach global business about community

The Italian way of giving

Chiesi Grupe is an international, research-focused biopharmaceuticals group that develops and markets innovative therapeutic solutions in respiratory health, rare diseases, and specialty care. The company’s mission is to improve people’s quality of life and act responsibly towards both the community and the environment.

By changing its legal status to a Benefit Corporation in Italy, the US, and France, Chiesi’s commitment to creating shared value for society as a whole is legally binding and central to company-wide decision-making. Since 2019 Chiesi is certified by B Corp, meaning that its sustainability efforts are measured and assessed by the most ambitious global standards. The company aims at becoming net zero by 2035. With over 85 years of experience, Chiesi is headquartered in Parma (Italy), operates in 30 countries, and counts more than 6,000 employees. The Group’s development center in Parma works alongside 6 other important R&D hubs in France, the US, Canada, China, the UK, and Sweden.

“An important advantage of being a family business is the opportunity to focus on the long term – we look ahead to the next generation of people and not necessarily the next month or the next quarterly report,” Giacomo Chiesi, head of Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, says. “We try to have a very long-term orientation because we believe that aligns our objectives very well with the objectives of the society and the patients we serve, and it makes us a stable business.”

The non-profit B Labs issues B Corp certifications to businesses that can demonstrate a positive social and environmental impact, as well as make certain public commitments to accountability and transparency.

The status isn’t awarded lightly and Chiesi is the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer to be named a B Corp.

“We believe it is necessary to take care of our planet and the people who inhabit it, meaning sustainability has been a primary concern in the way we operate,” Giacomo Chiesi says.

Chiesi Group may have started small in 1935, but this family business has grown into a significant presence in the pharma world. And they’ve done so without sacrificing dedication to positive social impact and an enduring focus on the life and experience of the patient. For patients with Fabry’s disease, Chiesi’s ongoing work is an example of those values in action.

“Our goal has always been to have a positive and long-lasting impact on patients and society, and I continue to live by this mission every day,” Giacomo says. “Chiesi has a long history of commitment to the rare disease community in particular, and in 2020 we established the business unit Chiesi Global Rare Diseases to reinforce our commitment to putting rare disease patients at the center of everything we do.”

Maria Paola Chiesi, head of Chiesi shared value and sustainability, says that when the coronavirus pandemic struck, it put to the test some of the measures that the pharmaceutical company had been trying to put in place.

Back in 2020, “Italy was the first country to be hit, and so nobody knew what to do,” said Maria. “There was a lack of masks, there was a lack of gloves, everything. There was a lack of pulmonary ventilators.” The pandemic quickly overwhelmed Italy’s health system, and the northern city of Parma, where Chiesi is based, was in the eye of the storm.

Helping the World to Breathe | Creating Shared Value for Patients, Society, and Environment

As a pharma company, Chiesi had expertise and supply lines that even public hospitals lacked. “So, we understood that with our procurement, with the process we have for buying from vendors…was much more efficient than that of public hospitals,” Maria Paola Chiesi said. “So, we bought all these things instead of the hospitals…and then we donated them to the hospitals and to the community.”

As with any corporate attempt to make the world a better place, there’s a balance to be struck: How can a firm make a real impact close to home, without losing sight of its impact on the world as a whole? Increasingly, Italy seems to be a place that companies all around the world can look to for answers.

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