Access to Medicines
Why We Care
We are driven by our mission to bring innovative medicines to people in need around the world. We understand that our most extraordinary breakthroughs in science only matter if patients can access these medicines. The company has the goal of widespread access to treatments that deliver value for the societies that provide them, patients in need, and allow our company to continue discovering new solutions for serious unmet medical conditions.
Our commitments
We aim to achieve near-universal access to our products following these commitments:
- Prior to the approval of products in the Greater China region, we support early access to the products after they are approved by FDA.
- Secure timely reimbursement through governmental programs as well as coverage through commercial insurance plans.
- Support Patient Assistant and Education Programs when and where appropriate, according to local laws and regulations.
How we fulfill our commitments for access and affordability of therapies
We appreciate and respect the differences in healthcare systems around the world. With a current focus on the Greater China Region (GCR) of mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, in mainland China, the company seeks to achieve access and affordability to marketed therapies primarily through inclusion in China’s National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL).
We support compassionate use programs in Taiwan and Hong Kong region and the Named Patient Program (NPP) in the GCR according to local laws and regulations.
Prior to inclusion of our products on the NRDL, we also seek to obtain coverage of our products under commercial insurance plans and supplemental insurance offered by certain provinces and municipalities in the GCR. Commercial insurance plans and provincial/municipal supplemental insurance plans provide affordable access of healthcare products to a small but growing portion of the population.
We understand and commit to increase patient access through Patient Assistance Programs for Optune Gio and Qinlock, according to laws and regulations.
In the case of the medical device Optune Gio/Tumor Treating Fields, which is not eligible for the NRDL, we commit to improve patient access through a Patient Assistance Program and continue to obtain coverage by commercial insurance plans.
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Climate Change and Environmental Stewardship
Why we care
At Zai Lab, we recognize that our daily business operations matter in the journey to address global environmental issues, including climate change, resource scarcity, and biodiversity loss. We are committed to minimizing our impact on the environment and proactively benefiting both the health of individuals and the wellbeing of the communities we work in. Climate change poses undeniable risks to both human and environmental health. As a biopharmaceutical company, we believe that you cannot look at the two in isolation as we are acutely aware of the threats of climate-related air and water stresses, extreme weather events, and disease proliferation. Therefore, our mission to improve human health and life worldwide includes an abiding commitment to the health of our planet.
Our commitments
Environmental Stewardship and Management: To do our part in safeguarding the environment for this and future generations, Zai is committed to meeting the needs of our customers, being transparent about our progress, and engaging our stakeholders as we further develop our environmental initiatives. We commit to reducing the environmental impact of our business practices and investing in environmental stewardship projects.
GHG Reductions and Climate: As we become a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company, we are analyzing the environmental impact of our current global operations and putting plans in place to make future operational decisions and commitments in line with a Net Zero future.
Sustainable Supply Chain: In line with Zai Lab’s 2022 Materiality Assessment findings, we understand that ensuring responsible procurement and having an integrated sustainable supply chain are both core performance and value drivers.
Our Actions
Zai Lab commits to integrating environmental improvement and protection into our business operations, policies, and practices. The actions below demonstrate how we are actively working towards our environmental commitments:
Environmental Stewardship and Management: Zai Lab employs several internal and external initiatives to progress our ESG journey. We are working to enhance our environmental practices regarding product design, management of our supply chain, manufacturing, after-sale services, product disposal, facilities, and operating centers. As part of this, we aim to use natural resources responsibly across our operations. We believe it is important to engage our employees throughout this process so there is a universal understanding of how our work impacts the environment. We currently work to engage our employees through our partnership with One Tree Planted and recently launched a new employee matching program where 120 Zai Lab employees donated over $25,000, which contributed towards planting 40,000 trees.
Zai Lab has an internal environmental management system, which is set up according to the ISO14001 framework. The Environmental Management System manual contains sections on environmental strategy and emissions and waste reduction. In addition to our EHS Management System, we continuously monitor water, electricity, and steam usage, as well as wastewater discharge and hazardous waste collection. As part of this work, we strive to reduce consumption of toxic chemicals, use non-phosphorus detergents, and reduce both hazardous waste and landfill waste. We are continuously optimizing processes and equipment to reduce the waste of raw materials, scrap, and nonconforming products.
In addition to our environmental management system, we also have procedures in place for a Global Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management system and a Wastewater Management Procedure.
GHG Reductions and Climate: As we learn more about the sources of Zai Lab’s GHG emissions, we are working to incorporate the latest technologies to reduce GHGs across all our facilities. One way in which we do this is through the operation of a centralized steam supply. This helps to both improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Promote lean manufacturing and environmental improvement measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emission per product unit. Zai Lab’s corporate office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is in a LEED Gold certified building. Our facility in Suzhou, China, when completed, will be a GBEL 2-Star certified facility.
In 2022 we are conducting a global Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory and beginning a Scope 3 inventory. In 2023 we will set a commitment that outlines our transition to Net Zero for Scope 1, 2, and 3, and develop a timeline and interim targets to achieve that goal.
Sustainable Supply Chain: We are working to engage our suppliers so that they can improve upon their environmental practices. Zai Lab has a publicly available Supplier Code of Conduct which includes requirements for suppliers to meet all environmental compliance requirements. We hold ourselves to a high standard at Zai Lab and will never require anything of our suppliers that we are not already doing ourselves. We will progress our supplier requirements as we continue to transition to our Net Zero operations.
In 2022, Zai Lab is carrying out a supply chain due diligence review and developing a code of conduct for partners and suppliers alike.
In addition to our internal sustainability-related priorities, Zai Lab works to incorporate the priorities of our stakeholders. In early 2022, we conducted a materiality assessment which has helped us build upon our existing environmental practices and determine what steps we need to take going forward. One of the results we have prioritized is transparency and as a result we are increasing our disclosure through relevant sustainability raters and rankers. In 2023, we plan to conduct a climate risk assessment aligned with the requirements of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to identify climate-related risks and opportunities that could impact our global operations.
More information
Green Building Evaluation Label (GBEL)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Occupational Health and Safety Position Statement
U.S. Green Building Council (GBC)
2022 Greenhouse Gas Emission Verification Statement for Zai Lab
2023 Greenhouse Gas Emission Verification Statement for Zai Lab
Clinical Trial Research and Transparency
Why we care
Our mission to bring innovative medicines to people in need around the world requires us to rely on individuals to participate in our clinical trial research. We recognize the essential role patients and their caregivers serve in our clinical studies. We understand that patients and their families rely on us, and we commit to them that we will conduct ethical, transparent, and safe clinical trial research.
Our commitments
When we conduct clinical programs and studies, we commit to:
- Consistent ethical standards guiding the design and conduct of clinical research.
- Safety and well-being of participants in every stage of planning and implementation of clinical trials.
- Adherence to local laws, regulations, customs and cultural norms at every stage.
- Informed consent of all clinical trial participants.
- Ethical treatment of members of control groups, including use of local Standard of Care or, in instances where no alternative treatment exists or a placebo is required for scientific reasons, strict adherence to Council for International Organizations of Medical Science (CIOMS) guidelines.
- Rigorous oversight and reporting to appropriate authorities.
- Transparency in reporting of results, regardless of whether the data is positive, negative, or inconclusive.
How we conduct clinical trial research
In all clinical research conducted by or on behalf of Zai Lab, the company and our partners follow local laws and regulations. We follow the International Council for Harmonization Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP).
Our clinical Quality Management System (QMS) covers clinical quality assurance, pharmacovigilance, and clinical study life cycle management. The QMS consists of four Policies, 87 SOPs/WIs and more than 240 associated template or working forms to ensure the quality of data collection and vigilance regarding patient safety in all aspects of clinical trial management.
Study protocols focus on the protection of study participants, with adherence to cultural and social norms where we conduct clinical research. We obtain Clinical Trial Application (CTA) approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) before beginning a clinical trial, as well as the Institutional Review Board at each site before beginning any trial at that site. Any major amendment to protocols in a CTA must be submitted to, and approved by, the NMPA. Other protocol changes are reported in an annual report to the NMPA. We will follow the same procedures and institute the same safeguards as we extend our research efforts around the world.
All of our clinical trials are conducted and managed in accordance with study protocols, Standard Operating Procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements. Our teams work together to oversee the quality of clinical trials, the safety of patients and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) compliance via site monitoring activities by Certified Research Associates (CRAs), study management by study managers, protocol compliance monitoring by study physicians, quality visits by Quality Control personnel, GCP audits by QA personnel, and monitoring of relative benefit and risk of products by pharmacovigilance.
At Zai Lab, the responsibility for the clinical development is led by the executive leading the therapeutic area, specifically:
- President and Head of Global Development, Oncology
- President and Head of Global Development, Neuroscience, Autoimmune and Infectious Diseases
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Commitment to Ethical Marketing Practices
Why we care
Our actions and our words serve as the foundation of trust within our team, in our interactions with partners and customers, and in the therapies we develop and market. Zai Lab’s rapid growth fuels our vision and, at the same time, raises the risks and complexities in making its achievement a reality. Therefore, we have set clear principles of business behavior as our starting point for how we do business. We created resources to help employees understand and adhere to them. What we do and what we say matter to the people who rely on us to do our part for a healthier world.
Our commitments
In building and managing all business, marketing and sales relationships, we will:
- Provide fair, accurate and balanced information relating to our products, the science behind them, their contribution to medicine and their safety.
- Promote our products only for the uses that have been approved, cleared or authorized by the relevant governmental agency, and do so through communication tools and channels that have been approved.
- Limit business interactions with health care providers and business partners to legitimate purposes that further our mission to serve patients who count on us.
- Treat all third parties and business partners fairly, while holding them to the same high ethical and legal standards we set for ourselves.
- Work honestly and transparently with academic institutions, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and other collaborators who share our goal to develop innovative therapeutics that transform the lives of patients around the world.
- Build a culture of trust with patients and patient organizations, focused on furthering our understanding of patient needs.
How we honor our commitments
Zai Lab has established a robust Legal and Compliance function to provide the framework and training needed to support a global standard of ethical marketing. To help employees incorporate the company’s culture of trust and patient-centric values into our way of thinking and acting, Zai Lab has developed a comprehensive and clear Code of Conduct, so there is a shared understanding of company expectations of behavior.
Zai Lab provides training and resources so there is adherence to the Code’s principles in both business and business-related personal conduct. The company has initiated formal on-line training and knowledge testing, which all employees, up to and including the CEO, must complete. These principles are fully outlined in the company’s ESG report.
Zai Lab operates a Global Compliance Committee (GCC) focused on setting global standards aligned with company values. The Chief Compliance Officer chairs the GCC, reporting organizationally to the Chief Legal Officer and functionally into the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. With this foundation, Zai Lab has created and staffed compliance monitoring and investigation-related roles, which serve both to mitigate risks and to report exceptions to management teams at various levels and to the board. The Chief Compliance Officer and staff are responsible for defining the policy road map based on the company’s activities and risk profile and the best practices of other global life sciences companies.
Currently the company has commercial operations only in the Greater China Region (GCR), which includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. At the operational level, the GCR Head of Compliance, who reports to the Chief Compliance Officer, organizes and runs the Corporate Compliance Committee (CCC), which is composed of senior leaders within the operational GCR organization. These senior leaders include the GCR Chief Commercial Officer, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Marketing and Sales. The GCR compliance team has a person dedicated to management and business partnering, a business partner and operational support person, and a head of monitoring and investigations.
Zai Lab maintains an open and transparent environment where employees, business partners, and third parties can ask questions and receive an informative response. The company encourages employees to speak to their direct managers or ask questions to designated resources in the Human Resources, Legal, or Ethics and Compliance departments. Employees also can contact a confidential, toll-free Hotline. All processes and resources are delineated in the Zai Lab Code of Conduct, and details on these resources are included in Code training.
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Corporate Social Responsibility
Why we care
Zai Lab understands corporate social responsibility (CSR) serves as a positive force for supporting our business mission and as a powerful expression of our company values. Doing good plays an increasingly important element of corporate success and helps us deliver sustaining value to our employees, patients, health care professionals, and communities.
Our CSR commitments
Zai Lab’s CSR programs address matters that are most important to stakeholders and links them to what is most material to the company’s mission, goals and business strategies. Our strategy to create better outcomes focuses on
People: We see first-hand the important role employees play in strengthening our company culture while giving back to our communities, especially during times of crisis like the most recent COVID 19 shutdowns in our local communities. We commit to and actively support employee volunteerism.
Communities: Zai Lab can make a positive impact to the communities in which we live and work. We commit to make educational grants and charitable contributions.
Planet: We understand that our daily operations, where and how we work, matter in the fight against climate change. We also understand that our impact on the planet can and must go beyond our value chain. We commit to CSR work focused on a healthy planet.
How we fulfill our CSR commitments
Leveraging a CSR framework that is based on stakeholder input and focused on people, communities and planet, this is how we fulfill our CSR commitments to date:
People: Between March and May, 2022, when Shanghai locked down due to the pandemic, our employees stepped up and volunteered more than 1,291 hours in their communities and helping their neighbors. This time is equivalent to $72,041 paid hours of volunteerism. Inspired by and in recognition of the leadership shown by our employees, we formalized our Employee Volunteerism program. Every Zai Lab employee is given eight hours of work time per year to volunteer to programs aligned to our ESG strategy .
Community: We provided $864,000 in grants and cash contributions as well as $8,100,000 in-kind product donations to support our local communities. Our community strategy focuses efforts on science, health and community support, including disaster relief.
Planet: Zai Lab launched its first ESG global partnership with One Tree Planted (OTP) for Earth Day, planting one tree for each employee and employee matching gift program. This partnership resulted in the planting of 40,000 trees to help in reforestation and the fight against climate change.
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Human Rights
Why we care
Zai Lab’s mission is to improve human health. We understand that how we fulfill our mission matters. As a responsible global pharmaceutical company, Zai Lab acknowledges its responsibility to respect the rights of every individual in our value chain. To do this, we have adopted standards that protect patients, clinical study participants, healthcare professionals, people who use our products, employees, and third parties with whom we interact.
Our commitment to human rights
Zai Lab respects human rights as we follow international best practices. Our commitment is guided by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We aim to prevent, mitigate, and remedy adverse human rights impacts throughout our workplace, business operations, and supply chain.
- Child Labor: We prohibit the employment of children under the minimum age of employment permitted by the countries in which we operate. Additionally, if the age at the end of compulsory schooling is higher than the local minimum working age, Zai Lab will abide by the highest regulated age. Moreover, young people under the age of 18 who are legally able to work are barred from carrying out any hazardous work (e.g., chemical handling, strenuous physical labor, or night shifts). All applicable local laws, including access to education, training, working hours, and health checks will also be followed.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We are committed to maintaining a workplace that is inclusive for all employees. We aim to recruit and develop employees with different backgrounds and expertise to support the company’s growth and establish representation at all levels within the Company to build a sense of belonging where employees want to stay and build their careers.
- Environmental Responsibility: Zai Lab complies with the environmental laws, regulations, standards, and other environmental requirements in the countries in which we operate. We conduct business in accordance with applicable local and national environmental laws and, where no regulations exist, operate in a manner that does not pose a risk to the environment.
- Forced Labor and Modern Slavery: Zai Lab prohibits the use of all forms of forced labor, including prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor, military labor, modern forms of slavery, and any other form of human trafficking.
- Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Zai Lab employees have the right to join, form, or not to join or form, a labor union without fear of reprisal, intimidation, or harassment. Where employees are represented by a legally recognized union, we are committed to establishing constructive dialogue with their freely chosen representatives. Zai Lab is committed to bargaining in good faith with those representatives.
- No Discrimination: Zai Lab is an equal opportunity employer. We ensure that job applicants and employees are judged based solely on their qualifications and skillsets. Everyone is treated fairly and respected regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, national origin, disabilities, genetic information, or any other status that is protected by law. We do not tolerate discrimination. Employees have the right to work in an environment that is free from harassment, harsh and inhumane treatment, including any sexual harassment, sexual abuse, corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse of workers and without threat of any such treatment.
- Occupational Health and Safety and Well-being: Zai Lab understands our responsibility for the occupational health and safety of our employees and our supply chain. We apply the following Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines to all of our operations:
- Conduct OHS assessments to identify hazards that may cause harm in the workplace;
- Prioritize actions to prepare for, and respond to, emergency situations;
- Establish targets to mitigate injuries and illnesses;
- Evaluate progress to reduce injuries and illnesses;
- Conduct internal inspections;
- Develop and implement procedures to investigate work-related injuries, ill health, diseases, and other incidents;
- Provide OHS training to employees and/or other relevant parties to raise awareness and reduce OHS incidents; and
- Integrate OHS criteria in procurement and contractual requirements.
- Wages, Benefits, and Working Hours: Employees are to be provided with the payment of wages in legal tender at regular intervals no longer than one month. Wage deductions for any reason other than those prescribed by applicable law, regulations, or collective agreements are prohibited.
How we fulfill our human rights commitments
Our commitments to human rights, as established in this statement, are enacted through our Code of Business Conduct & Ethics for our direct operations and our Supplier Code of Conduct for our suppliers and all other third parties.We expect all suppliers and business partners to recognize the requirements identified in this statement.
We expect employees to maintain a culture of transparency and to raise concerns when they see potentially unethical behavior, violations of policies and procedures, or other concerning events. Employees may report concerns to direct managers, the Legal Department, the Human Resources Department, Ethics and Compliance, or our secure hotline number. Our EthicsPoint hotline is available 24/7, may be used anonymously if preferred, and is managed by an independent third party. Any stakeholder throughout our value chain, including any community members in the areas in which we operate, have full access to our ethics hotline to report any community-related grievances. Retaliation of any form against an employee for reporting a concern or cooperating with an investigation is prohibited.
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Nature
Why we care
At Zai Lab, we recognize that our daily business operations matter in the journey to address global environmental issues, including climate change, resource scarcity, and biodiversity loss. We are committed to minimizing our impact on the environment and proactively benefiting both the health of individuals and the well-being of the communities we work in. Climate change and nature loss pose risks to both human and environmental health. As a biopharmaceutical company, we consider these threats together. Climate and nature-related issues, such as air and water stresses and extreme weather events, can lead to health-related issues, such as disease proliferation. Therefore, our mission to improve human health and life worldwide includes an abiding commitment to the health of our planet.
Nature & Biodiversity
The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risk Report identifies biodiversity and nature loss among the top ten global risks to society in the next decade.[1]
At Zai Lab, our mission is to be a leading global biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes innovative products that address medical conditions with significant unmet needs for people around the world. An integral part of this is enhancing an understanding of how business both impacts and depends upon nature and the services it provides.
COP15 UN Convention on Biological Diversity has pushed biodiversity and nature loss to the forefront of concerns for governments and investors, highlighting it as both a systemic challenge and a financial risk. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in a landmark multilateral agreement, now mandates that large companies and financial institutions regularly monitor, assess, and transparently disclose their environmental risks, impacts, and dependencies throughout their operations and supply chains.[2]
Our Commitments
Zai Lab has several internal and external initiatives to progress our sustainability journey. We are working to enhance our environmental practices regarding product design, management of our supply chain, manufacturing, after-sale services, product disposal, facilities, and operating centers.
Environmental Stewardship and Management
We aim to use natural resources responsibly across our operations. We believe it is important to engage our employees throughout this process so that they understand how our work impacts the environment. We currently work to engage our employees through our partnership with One Tree Planted, and we recently launched a new employee matching program where 120 Zai Lab employees donated over $25,000, which contributed toward planting 40,000 trees.
Zai Lab has an internal environmental management system, which is set up according to the ISO14001 framework. The Environmental Management System manual contains sections on environmental strategy and emissions and waste reduction. In addition to our EHS Management System, we monitor water, electricity, and steam usage, as well as wastewater discharge and hazardous waste collection. As part of this work, we strive to reduce consumption of toxic chemicals, use non-phosphorus detergents, and reduce both hazardous waste and landfill waste. We continue to consider ways we can optimize our processes and equipment to reduce the waste of raw materials, scrap, and nonconforming products.
In addition to our environmental management system, we also have procedures in place for a Global Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management system and a Wastewater Management Procedure.
Sustainable Practices in Biodiversity
By 2025, we commit to focusing on Zai Lab’s impact on biodiversity, and we expect to establish Sustainable Practices in Biodiversity. Following the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), we began our nature-related risk assessment by following TNFD’s LEAP approach. To help do our part, we seek to understand the risk of biodiversity loss in the communities and regions in which we operate. The first step of this is understanding our potentially material environmental dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities based on the sectors and geographies in which we operate. By 2025, we will conduct our first TNFD risk assessment, and will establish our Policy Position Statement on Biodiversity.
Our Actions
At Zai Lab, we are committed to environmental stewardship, adapting our practices to meet new standards set by frameworks such as the TNFD, and gaining an in-depth understanding of how our direct operations and supply chain interact with nature, enabling us to identify and manage nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities. Leveraging our prior work aligning with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), we included a nature screening within our updated climate risk screening to determine potential exposure of our operations to nature-related impacts and dependencies and identify priority risks and opportunities for continued focus and future action.
We conducted a nature materiality review to identify critical nature impacts and dependencies, utilizing data from the ENCORE tool developed by the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative to understand material nature issues within the sectors in which we operate.
Zai Lab works to incorporate priorities of our stakeholders into our climate and nature risk assessments. In early 2022, we conducted a materiality assessment which has helped us build upon our existing environmental practices and determine what steps to take going forward. One of the results we have prioritized is transparency, and as a result, we are increasing our disclosure through relevant sustainability raters and rankers. In 2023, we conducted an initial climate risk assessment aligned with the requirements of the TCFD to identify climate-related risks and opportunities that could impact our global operations. In 2024, we conducted a refresh of this climate-risk assessment and expanded it to incorporate nature-related risks. This analysis and resulting findings helped us prioritize our efforts to address relevant risks and opportunities and to align our strategy with our environmental objectives.
More information
[1] World Economic Forum. 2024 Global Risks report. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2024
[1] UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The Biodiversity Plan for Life on Earth. Target 15. https://www.cbd.int/gbf/targets/15
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
Why we care
Zai Lab understands our responsibility for the occupational health and safety of our employees and others who can be affected by our activities. We believe a healthy workplace is a basic commitment to our hard-working team and aim to create a culture where everyone feels part of our safety journey.
Our commitments
Through our Global OHS management system, we are committed to providing healthy workplaces, preventing work-related injury and ill health, and continually improving our OHS performance.
How we fulfill our responsibility to our employees
Zai Lab provides a safe and healthy workplace by incorporating the following concepts of OHS in our business operations, policies and practices:
- Aligning our global OHS management system framework with ISO 45001.
- Conducting OHS risk assessments to identify the hazards that can cause harm in the workplace.
- Prioritizing actions to address identified risks.
- Integrating actions to prepare for and respond to emergency situations.
- Establishing targets for injury and illness risk reduction.
- Evaluating progress in reducing injury and illness potential.
- Conducting internal inspections.
- Developing and implementing procedures to investigate work-related injuries, ill health, diseases and incidents.
- Providing OHS training to employees and/or other relevant parties to raise awareness and reduce OHS incidents.
- Integrating OHS criteria in procurement and contractual requirements.
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Supply Chain Collaboration
Why we care
As a global company, Zai Lab must rely on outside resources for mission-critical materials, services and processes that cannot or should not be produced within the company. This enables access to state-of-the-art capabilities, reduces costs and risk from conducting operations beyond our core capabilities, and increases flexibility and efficiency. It also requires added diligence to maintain our standards of quality and ethics within organizations outside our direct control. Our obligations to our stakeholders demand that we manage this challenge, and manage it well.
Our commitments to Supply Chain Collaboration
Zai Lab conducts management of risk up and down our entire supply chain, which we believe will ensure our business success and fulfill our obligations to all of our stakeholders. In keeping with Zai Lab’s philosophy of superior partnership, the company works collaboratively to align our supply-chain risk management with our corporate strategy.
Our standards are based on our ESG goals and steeped in our Code of Conduct. Our commitment starts in areas of greatest and most immediate impact:
- Identify and understand our supplier categories and associated top-tier suppliers
- Conduct risk assessments on and understand risks throughout our supply chain, from procurement of materials, through services provided by third parties, to distribution of our products.
- Establish a Global Procurement function to ensure consistent enterprise supplier collaboration.
How we ensure Supply Chain Collaboration
The Zai Lab corporate values serve as the guide for maintaining all efforts regarding ESG, and they apply equally to every organization and individual working with us. The key tools for collaborating with supply-chain entities in upholding our values are:
- Our Global Procurement Function embeds the company’s Trust for Life ESG priorities into the governance of and oversight within our supply chain.
- We have dimensions of Supply Chain risk embedded in our enterprise risk management system. The Global Procurement Function further segments supplier categories by risks identified through our enterprise risk management process (business relevance, reputational, ESG, compliance, geographical, industry sector, supply chain disruption, commodity spend) as well as supplier annual spend. The top categories, defined as high spend and high risk after category segmentation, include the following:
- CDMO (Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization)
- CRO (Contract Research Organization)
- Travel, Meeting and Events
- Advertising, Media & Communications Agency
- Clinical Operations
- Clinical Supply
- Logistics
- The company has a due diligence procedure for all third parties including suppliers, distributors, individuals and healthcare professionals. We use the due diligence procedure to evaluate all new third parties and as we renew contracts with incumbents.
- Procurement assesses all top-tier suppliers on governence and performance related to the following general categories:
- Company Demographics
- Labor Standards
- Policies and Practices to Prevent Discrimination, Harassment and Abuse
- Compensation, Benefits and Hours
- Health and Safety
- Grievance Mechanism
- Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance
- Global Procurement Category Leads have been trained on our Trust for Life ESG strategy and have ongoing support from ESG experts for new and emerging topics. Global Procurement Category Leads oversee the Supplier Management Program to proactively identify and mitigate risks and work with our more than 2800 suppliers, including our 30 critical tier 1 suppliers, to conduct business on our behalf, consistent with our Supplier Code of Conduct (Supplier Code). Suppliers with better ESG performance are preferred by applying a percentage weight to ESG criteria in supplier selection and contract awarding.
- Zai Lab Supplier Code serves as a guide for those who work in any way with us. Our Supplier Code is closely aligned to the company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, with focus on our most material risks in supply chain:
- Ethics: Anti-bribery and Corruption; Antitrust Fair Competition; Trade Compliance; Animal Welfare; Ethics in Research & Development; Data Privacy
- Workforce: Child Labor Prohibition; Freely Chosen Employment; Fair Treatment; Wages, Benefits and Working Hours
- Health & Safety: Product Safety; Worker Protection
- Environment: Environmental Law Compliance
More information
Code of Business Conduct & Ethics
Zai Lab 2022 ESG Trust Report
Supplier Code of Conduct
Tax
Why we care
Transparency, trust, and ethics are core principles of our mission to bring innovative medicines to people in need around the world. In line with this mission, we prioritize transparency related to our taxes in all countries where we operate.
Our commitments
Zai Lab is committed to following tax-related laws and regulations in the countries where we operate. We also strive to meet the following additional commitments:
- We do not develop tax strategies that go beyond the scope of our normal business operations.
- We will use applicable preferential tax treatments within the scope of our normal business activities and strive to maximize our business value by improving tax efficiency.
- We seek to develop and maintain good relationships with tax authorities in each country or region, by being open, constructive, and collaborative. In the event of any dispute with a taxing authority, we will attempt to resolve those issues through proactive dialogue.
Our management provides oversight of our tax policy and related processes.
How we fulfill our commitments
Zai Lab reports on our tax requirements and payments, including in our annual reports. For more information on our tax requirements in 2022, see our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Use of Animals in Research
Why we care
The development of life-saving medicines sometimes requires us to make use of purpose-bred research animals when other options cannot address the scientific issues at hand (e.g., computational simulations or in vitro studies). We at Zai Lab regard the use of research animals in this setting with the utmost respect, and have policies and practices in place to ensure responsible and ethical usage, whether it is done by Zai Lab or done at the request of Zai Lab. Our long-term goal is to someday conduct these studies without the use of animals; until then, we take seriously our responsibility to use animals humanely in scientific research. We only conduct research with the use of laboratory animals in the exploration of scientific questions that have no other option or to meet regulatory requirements. In these cases, we do so ethically and transparently.
Our commitments
- Conduct research consistent with practices defined by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) standards, The Guide For Care And Use Of Laboratory Animals (8th ed.), and federal regulations as stipulated by the Animal Welfare Act.
- Conduct research by individuals who are trained and qualified in the proper care, handling, and use of animals and are experienced with the species being studied.
- Ensure that all animals used in all Zai Lab studies receive humane treatment and care that is in accordance with the particular needs of the given species and that they are permitted to live as naturally as possible (e.g., group housing, environmental enrichment).
- Take all necessary measures, in accordance with current veterinary care and practice guidelines, to ensure that animals experience the minimum amount of discomfort, distress, and/or pain.
- Use only animals that are specifically bred for research purposes.
- Provide care and attention to animals transported for experimental use, including appropriate and adequate transport and facilities in accordance with currently applicable guidelines and legal requirements.
- Ensure that research sponsored by Zai Lab is performed in animal research programs which meet or exceed the industry standards of animal husbandry, veterinary care, and institutional policies.
How we fulfill our commitments to animal welfare
At Zai Lab, the welfare of animals used in research is a shared responsibility of all those engaged in their use, either directly or through collaborators. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Zai Lab assumes ultimate accountability to ensure that all work is performed in accordance with Zai Lab IACUC policies and procedures.
These policies and procedures apply to all internal animal studies. For external animal studies sponsored by Zai Lab, we only partner with external organizations (e.g., contract research organizations (CROs), universities, and other companies) that agree to follow AAALAC-defined practices and have an IACUC.
We practice the 3R principles: Replace the use of animal models with other technology whenever possible; Reduce the number of animals used when such use is necessary; and Refine practices to minimize discomfort, distress, or pain. All research involving laboratory animals must be approved by the responsible Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
We follow evolving scientific and regulatory developments that could contribute to improving animal welfare and quickly incorporate improvements into our policies and practices. We revisit our policy on a regular basis to ensure that our practices reflect the values of our organization and those of the society of which we are a part.
More information
National Institutes of Health (United States), Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare
National Center for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research
Workforce Engagement and Development
Why we care
We recognize that the people who work with us are one of our most valuable assets. Sustainable growth requires us to operate as a cohesive team that discovers and develops medicines, and delivers them to those in need. We understand that in order to do this, we must create an environment where everyone can thrive. This philosophy is at the heart of how we will achieve our mission.
Our commitments
As we build our culture, we commit to:
- Recruit and develop employees with different backgrounds and expertise to support the company’s growth and establish representation at all levels.
- Create a sense of belonging where employees want to stay and build their careers.
- Provide an environment that is free of any discrimination, intimidation, harassment, bullying, or any other non-respectful behavior.
- Foster a culture of freedom to speak and be heard, and where employees can raise concerns with confidence that they will be taken in a spirit of mutual respect and with no retaliation.
- Establish a workplace in which everyone’s health and safety is a top priority.
- Build a learning culture in the organization and continuously develop our people.
- Advance business continuity and promote career paths by building our key talent pool and robust succession pipeline.
- Work with suppliers and partners that share our company values.
How we manifest a culture of humanity, diversity, and inclusion
The Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Admin Operations is responsible for all aspects of Human Capital Management. Management reports updates and initiatives in Human Capital Management at meetings of the Board Compensation Committee meeting and the full Board. The Board of Directors and its Compensation Committee oversee diversity topics at Zai Lab.
Zai Lab has a Culture Committee responsible for driving the company culture, including all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) topics. Our commitment to equal opportunity has been enhanced by a DEI Governance program that operates within the Culture Committee. Under this governance, Zai Lab created three Employee Communities dedicated to high-priority areas: opportunities for women, company culture and DEI.
Zai Lab conducted our second culture pulse survey. We determined employee engagement remained high (>90%) based on respondents selecting “strongly agree” and “agree” for the following questions:
Culture pulse survey questions
- I understand the strategy and goals of Zai Lab
- I understand how my work contributes to Zai Lab achieving these goals
- I am proud to work for Zai Lab
- I am excited and inspired to come to work most days
- I have the feedback I need to succeed in my role
This feedback reflects our efforts to develop and support employees as well as managers through programs that enable the translation of our values into behaviors. We do this at all stages of our employee experience. We operate a Leadership Competency Model with specific behaviors that anchor all employees to perform successfully in their jobs and enhance career development.
The company offers an intelligent global digital learning platform, that delivers comprehensive online learning solutions to help employees master new technology, build leadership capabilities, and develop professional capabilities. The company has a Talent Review Process in place to identify high potential individuals with consistent standards and build robust succession pipelines for critical positions.
Zai Lab understands the importance of offering many different types of health and welfare benefits to care our employees. The following are some examples of key employee support programs:
- Aside from local statutory social benefits, Zai Lab offers comprehensive healthcare benefits to employees and their family. We provide 24/7 Employee Assistance Program for confidential clinical consultation etc. We also provide US employees family advocacy programs.
- We provide paid time-off and leave programs to support employees’ work-life balance at different phases of their lives, such as vacation, sick leave, parent leave and family leave (US only). Meanwhile there are different types of wellbeing initiatives in Zai Lab.
- We provide flexible working hours for certain positions and allow work-from-home arrangements under special situations.
Zai Lab is an equal opportunity employer. We ensure that all of our employees, along with business partners, third parties, and job applicants are judged based solely on their qualifications and skillsets. Everyone is treated equally and respected regardless of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law in the countries where we operate, a policy that is documented in our Code of Conduct. We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination.
Specifically, the company has established and maintains female representation in senior management, including the Founder/Chairperson/CEO and two out of nine members of the Board of Directors. Within the company overall, 59% of the workforce are women. Women hold 55% of management positions. Zai Lab has equity in leadership and has pay equity at all levels of the organization.
Zai Lab is a leader in female leadership, both through actions within the company and through the personal leadership of the company’s Founder, Chairperson and CEO, Dr. Samantha Du. In addition, the company is committed to bringing female leadership to the fore around the world and at all levels of responsibility.
compare w/ ave annual base (mean)
| Level | Female | Male |
| Staff | 101.1% | 98.4% |
| Manager | 101.0% | 98.5% |
| Director | 101.3% | 97.8% |
| VP and above | 100.3% | 99.7% |
| Total | 101.1% | 98.4% |