Public Policy & Advocacy
Responsible lobbying
We strive to engage in constructive dialogue with policymakers and other external stakeholders with the intent to represent the perspective of Novartis in the policy making process, and to provide policymakers with data and insights to enable widely informed decision-making conducive to improving patient outcomes and sustainable business.
We are guided by three principles when conducting responsible lobbying:
- Principle 1: Transparency, honesty and integrity are the core values reflected in how Novartis conducts lobbying.
- Principle 2: All lobbying activities should enable widely informed decision making conducive to improving patient outcomes and Novartis sustainable business in pursuit of the company mission.
- Principle 3: Novartis associates must not attempt to improperly influence any decision by inducing lobbied stakeholders to act or not to act in violation of their lawful duties.
We work closely with trade associations, which create opportunities to raise industry standards and exchange best practice and help foster framework conditions conducive to improving patient outcomes and investment into R&D. In 2016, Novartis Group companies contributed USD 48 million to various major international, regional and country trade associations.
Novartis Group companies maintain full-time public affairs offices in several locations, e.g. Basel, Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium; and Washington D.C., in the United States. We have additional public affairs personnel in many other countries, who assess regulatory and political decisions that may affect Novartis.
Read our Guideline (PDF 0.1 MB) for conducting lobbying activities based on transparency, honesty and integrity.
Political contributions
Novartis makes financial contributions to support political dialogue on issues of relevance to the company, or to government projects, e.g. for capacity-building. Such contributions need to be fully compliant with applicable regulations. Novartis only makes financial political contributions in countries where such contributions by corporations are legal and generally considered appropriate (the amount of these contributions is published in the Novartis Annual Report in the Corporate Governance section, page 114).
Novartis is disclosing political contributions where required by law such as in the US or Ireland. In order to further increase lobbying transparency, Novartis is also included in the Register of Interest Representatives, the European Commission’s voluntary self-regulation system. In line with this, Novartis has committed to publish a yearly estimate of the costs associated with lobbying of the EU institutions and subscribe to the Commission’s Code of Conduct.
Learn more:
US House of Representatives Lobbying Disclosure
European Commission's Register of Interest Representatives
Annual Report 2017
Review the strategy and annual performance of Novartis and read letters from our Chairman and CEO.