Hikma – A legacy of quality for a better future
By Julie Hill, Senior Vice President, Corporate Quality Compliance/Health and Safety
London, 24 June 2024 – For over 45 years, Hikma has stood firm as a leader in producing high-quality generic medicines, helping us to deliver on our purpose of putting better health within reach every day. We have an unwavering commitment to quality, which is ingrained in all our practices. This is a core principle, and the driving force behind us delivering on our strategy. With 29 manufacturing plants, consistently maintaining high levels of quality is challenging but also crucial. To do this, we have developed a quality culture, unified by a set of uncompromising standards. These standards drive our internal and external activities and allow us to support our patients and improve healthcare outcomes, so that we can continue to help shape a healthier world that enriches all our communities.
As a global company, we use innovation to ensure quality management is standardised. By investing in this technological infrastructure, we have bridged our compliance efforts and best practices across all our sites. This facilitates collaboration and knowledge sharing on a global scale.
At the heart of our global quality efforts lies the Hikma Quality Council, a cross-functional team chaired by our CEO, Riad Mishlawi. This council serves as a strategic think tank, monitoring industry trends, anticipating regulatory shifts, and ensuring that we remain proactive in our approach to quality management. Our key sub-committee, dedicated to regulatory intelligence, plays a pivotal role in tracking evolving guidelines and taking the necessary actions to keep us ahead of the curve.
However, this alone is not enough; it is our people who breathe life into our quality initiatives. That is why we place a strong emphasis on comprehensive quality training for all employees, starting from their very first days with the company. As one example, we organise for new hires to attend a dedicated quality during their initial orientation on site. This early exposure to our quality principles sets the tone for a culture where quality is a core element of every aspect of our work, ensuring that our employees are well-equipped to uphold our standards and contribute to continuous improvement.
Empowering our employees to be active participants in our quality journey is equally as crucial. We adopt an environment where open communication and a "speak-up" culture is not only encouraged but celebrated. By giving our employees the opportunity to voice any concerns, share their insights, and propose solutions, we tap into a vast reservoir of knowledge and expertise that drives our quality practices forward. This collaborative approach ensures that our quality systems are constantly evolving and adapting to the unique challenges and perspectives encountered across our global operations.
As a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals, we take pride in our quality standards and exemplary track record that extends beyond our own production. We actively share knowledge to support others in the sector, working closely with regulatory bodies like the US FDA and Saudi FDA, who have been trained in our facilities in Columbus and Riyadh respectively. Today, we have 13 FDA-inspected plants and 12 EMA-inspected plants in operation. Our transparent relationships with governing bodies enable advocacy and action to elevate standards.
Looking ahead, we'll continue to strengthen our collaborative relationships with regulatory agencies across the globe. Through open dialogue, knowledge sharing and operating with complete transparency, these partnerships will play a pivotal role in facilitating better healthcare outcomes for patients everywhere. Our dedication to quality will remain the guiding force as we embrace innovation to enhance our practices, never compromising on the highest standards of excellence. At the very core of what drives us forward is our purpose - to deliver affordable, high-quality generic medicines that put better health within reach, every day, and with a culture firmly rooted in uncompromising principles, you can count on us to continue to set new standards for quality, that will have a positive impact on lives.
About Hikma
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LSE: HIK) (NASDAQ Dubai: HIK) (OTC: HKMPY) (LEI:549300BNS685UXH4JI75) (rated BBB-/stable S&P and BBB-/positive Fitch)
Hikma helps put better health within reach every day for millions of people around the world. For more than 45 years, we've been creating high-quality medicines and making them accessible to the people who need them. Headquartered in the UK, we are a global company with a local presence across North America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Europe, and we use our unique insight and expertise to transform cutting-edge science into innovative solutions that transform people's lives. We're committed to our customers, and the people they care for, and by thinking creatively and acting practically, we provide them with a broad range of branded and non-branded generic medicines. Together, our 9,100 colleagues are helping to shape a healthier world that enriches all our communities. We are a leading licensing partner, and through our venture capital arm, are helping bring innovative health technologies to people around the world. For more information, please visit: www.hikma.com
©2024 Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC. All rights reserved.
Forward-looking statements
Hikma cautions shareholders that any forward-looking statements or projections made by Hikma, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those risk factors described in the “Principal risks and uncertainties” section in Hikma’s latest Annual Report. Where included, such statements have been made by or on behalf of Hikma in good faith based upon the knowledge and information available to the Directors on the date of this announcement. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met and Hikma's shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the UK Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority), Hikma does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent in any such forward-looking statements.