Building trust: Vetter’s commitment to corporate compliance excellence
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Beyond regulatory requirements: The added value of corporate compliance
For any CDMO, compliance should be more than regulatory requirements. Maintaining consistent regulatory alignment is a mission-critical priority. At Vetter, we see corporate compliance as much more than that: It’s a commitment embedded in our company’s culture, central to our daily operations, and critical to the lasting partnerships we build with our customers.
To see how fundamental it is to our business, look no further than Vetter’s Corporate Compliance Management System (CCMS), which has been in place for nearly a decade. Encompassing legal requirements, ethical standards, internal guidelines, and more, this comprehensive framework helps us cultivate a culture of transparency, accountability, and mutual respect—both internally and in collaboration with external partners.
The following section outlines this foundational business system, its core components, and how they guide our global operations.
Fostering trust and integrity across our business activities
Our corporate compliance framework was built for a single purpose: To support our role as a reliable partner to a wide range of global pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
In the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, customers demand strict adherence to legal and ethical standards. An essential criterion when evaluating strategic partners is their commitment to robust and transparent compliance frameworks. That’s precisely where Vetter’s CCMS comes in: It’s how we hold ourselves to the same rigorous standards as our customers.
The system itself has several key elements:
- A comprehensive Code of Conduct: Vetter’s internal Code of Conduct is the foundation for all employee behavior, while the Business Partner Code of Conduct sets clear expectations for ethical and sustainable practices with external partners.
- Structured onboarding and due diligence processes: New suppliers undergo compliance checks and risk assessments. The activities drive partnership decisions and are repeated regularly to monitor changes.
- Regular training programs: All employees receive tailored compliance training, beginning with general onboarding and continuing through role- and region-specific e-learning and workshops.
- Accessible reporting channels: Confidential hotlines and reporting tools provide both employees and external stakeholders the opportunity to raise concerns, with every report thoroughly investigated and addressed.
Our Code of Conduct reflects the values that shape how we work together—with honesty, respect, and a strong sense of responsibility toward people and the environment. It guides our actions and relationships, both within the company and with our partners around the world.
Jana Falkenberg, Senior Legal Counsel
Corporate compliance as part of everyday operations
As we love to point out, corporate compliance is not a standalone function. It is embedded into every facet of a company’s operations and culture.
At Vetter, every employee starts learning the core corporate compliance principles on day one, beginning with direct instruction and hands-on training. But absorbing those principles doesn't stop after a couple of classes: We keep that knowledge sharp with ongoing education, self-assessments, and workshops tailored to specific roles and regions. Plus, our dedicated Corporate Compliance Delegates are purposefully positioned in key departments, acting as local advocates who can highlight regulatory trends and keep compliance top-of-mind for their colleagues.
Behind the scenes, our Corporate Compliance Office also partners directly with functional and project teams to offer expert advice on new regulations and help smoothly integrate new mandates with minimal disruption to essential workflows. It's this kind of proactive thinking that helps us catch risks early and keep our operations running with a strong focus on regulatory integrity.
Where corporate compliance fits into the sustainable supply chain strategy
One area where the CCMS plays an especially critical role is in guiding the sustainability strategy. Our corporate compliance experts play an integral role in key efforts like expanding our use of eco-friendly packaging: They work hand-in-hand with teams like Procurement and Quality to proactively assess and mitigate potential risks in our evolving supplier network. Perhaps most importantly, that means communicating our expectations to suppliers on everything from human rights and environmental protection to anti-corruption efforts—then formalizing these commitments in the specific agreements.
As a manufacturer that helps supply the world with many essential medicines, we feel a deep sense of shared responsibility for balancing both our regulatory and environmental responsibilities. By upholding rigorous compliance and sustainability standards, carefully vetting our suppliers, and de-risking our global resource networks, we’re in a better position to identify, prepare for, and potentially prevent disruptions to the vital supply flow we support—all while helping our customers steward the environment as effectively as possible.
Sustaining a culture of “do the right thing”
Ultimately, the effectiveness of any corporate compliance system depends on the culture that leverages it—after all, even the most sophisticated framework won’t be effective if people don’t believe in it. That’s why we focus on fostering open communication and mutual respect throughout our business, encouraging our employees to identify and address risks head-on, and creating an environment where concerns can be raised constructively and addressed appropriately.
Each of these commitments helps us build an organizational ecosystem where corporate compliance feels real, relevant, and meaningful to our people. Initiatives like Vetter’s Compliance Week, employee surveys, and candid management interviews also help us deeply understand the impact our compliance program is having—and, more importantly, where it can expand and improve.
Each one of these initiatives helps reinforce that Vetter's commitment to corporate compliance goes far beyond following rules—for us, it’s a clear expression of our dedication to responsible business practices. We integrate corporate compliance at every level throughout the organization to foster ethical conduct, sustainable operations, and cultivate enduring partnerships. It’s both essential to everything we do and the way we do it, and a powerful way to show our commitment to all the customers, patients, and employees who rely on our business.
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