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Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

Research practices

We are committed to focusing on the patient in everything that we do. Our R&D pipeline is central to our ability to meet patients’ needs.

High ethical standards in R&D are key to protecting participants in our clinical research, ensuring the quality of our research, and maximising the benefits and minimising the risks of our products. High ethical standards are also essential for us to obtain regulatory approval for new medicines, and for patients and doctors to put their trust in our research programmes and products.

We aim to make our medicines as safe as possible by evaluating the risks and benefits at every stage from initial research, through to clinical trials and then after a new product is approved for sale.

We are committed to high levels of transparency about the results of our clinical research and use a number of reporting channels so that those who evaluate the efficacy and safety of our medicines or use our medicines can make informed decisions on their use.

We also recognise that biomedical research can raise ethical concerns including:

• The use of emerging technologies, such as cloning and the use of stem cells
• Animal research
• The storage and use of human tissue
• The protection of personal information about research participants

We participate in discussions on research practices and we regularly engage with academic scientists, regulators, policy makers and other stakeholders on related issues.