AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics and compliance, recognising that a strong compliance culture is essential for responsible business conduct, patient trust and sustainable organisational performance.

The goal of this initiative is to establish and continuously strengthen a comprehensive Compliance Framework that ensures all business activities are conducted with integrity, transparency and full alignment with applicable legislation, pharmaceutical industry regulations and AstraZeneca global standards.

The initiative aims to move beyond a control-based approach and embed compliance as a shared responsibility across the organisation, enabling employees to make ethical decisions every day.

The initiative applies to all AstraZeneca Greece employees, regardless of role, function or seniority level.

It particularly supports:

Employees working in highly regulated areas.
Business leaders and people managers.
Project owners involved in complex or high-risk activities.
Teams interacting with healthcare professionals, partners and external stakeholders.

Ongoing initiative supported through annual compliance planning, employee training, monitoring activities and continuous improvement actions.

AstraZeneca Greece has developed and implemented a comprehensive Compliance Framework designed to strengthen ethical business practices and ensure continuous adherence to pharmaceutical industry requirements.

The framework is built around eight key pillars:

Culture & Organisation
Risk Assessment
Standards & Procedures
Training & Communications
Oversight & Monitoring
Assurance Activities
Reporting
Investigation & Remediation

A unique characteristic of AstraZeneca's Compliance operating model is the clear distinction between:

Operational Compliance, responsible for ethical culture, risk assessment, standards, procedures and employee training.

Compliance Assurance, responsible for monitoring activities, issue management, investigations and corrective actions.

A key differentiator is the Compliance Ambassadors Programme, engaging employees outside the Compliance function as advocates of ethical decision-making and responsible business behaviour.

The framework is supported by:

Annual Compliance Plans aligned with Senior Leadership priorities.
Mandatory Code of Ethics training.
New employee onboarding compliance programmes.
Specialised training for high-risk areas.
Annual Ethics Week activities.

AstraZeneca also applies structured Enterprise Risk Management processes and documented Compliance Risk Assessments for new, complex or high-risk activities.

Compliance monitoring follows the Three Lines of Defence model, ensuring shared accountability between Management, Compliance and independent auditors.

Innovation is further supported through the DITTO Digital Compliance Monitoring Tool, which uses internal data to identify potential risks, support first-line monitoring and enable proactive actions.

The initiative is delivered through close collaboration between the Compliance Team, Senior Leadership Team and all business functions across AstraZeneca Greece. The Compliance Ambassadors Programme strengthens cross-functional collaboration by creating a network of employees who actively promote ethical culture and responsible decision-making.

Employee participation is a key success factor.

All employees participate in:

Annual Code of Ethics training.
Compliance awareness activities.
Ethics Week initiatives.
Communication campaigns and educational programmes.

Through the Compliance Ambassadors Programme, employees from different functions actively contribute to strengthening compliance culture.

AstraZeneca Greece

The Compliance Excellence Framework has significantly strengthened ethical awareness and compliance maturity across AstraZeneca Greece.

Key impacts include:

Increased understanding of ethical responsibilities.
Improved proactive identification and management of compliance risks.
Greater confidence in making ethical business decisions.
Stronger ownership of compliance across the organisation.
Enhanced organisational readiness through continuous monitoring and improvement.

The initiative has strengthened AstraZeneca Greece’s governance model and organisational resilience.

Key benefits include:

Enhanced corporate governance.
Stronger risk prevention capabilities.
Increased trust among employees and stakeholders.
Protection of company reputation in the pharmaceutical sector.
Sustainable integration of compliance into everyday business operations.