Year: 2015-16

Company: BioMarin

Liaison(s): Russell Mayhew

BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc. is a biotechnology
company based in San Rafael, California that provides
first-in-class therapies to treat rare genetic disorders.
With an impressive portfolio of five FDA-approved
products currently on the market and a robust pipeline,
BioMarin is poised to continue its rapid growth in the
development of breakthrough treatments that fulfill an
unmet need.
Due to the large carbon footprint and social
implications of the manufacturing processes involved,
sustainability awareness and the implementation of
environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
business practices has become increasingly important
in the biotechnology industry. Additionally, business
trends suggest that companies actively pursuing
sustainable practices often outperform those that do
not. As BioMarin continues to grow, the company
aspires to allocate more resources towards tracking
and reporting ongoing sustainability projects and
identifying new opportunities for incorporating
ESG factors. To develop a successful sustainability
strategy, BioMarin would like to benchmark current
biopharmaceutical ESG practices and explore projects
with significant sustainability impacts.
The BioMarin Sustainability Team Master’s Project
team was tasked with assessing the requirements
for implementing a formal sustainability strategy at
BioMarin. Initial efforts identified current sustainability
practices within biotechnology companies. Following a
thorough analysis of 17 companies in the industry, the
team conducted a survey and interviewed upper-level
BioMarin employees to understand the sustainability
culture at BioMarin, identify current gaps and
determine areas of opportunity for incorporating
sustainable practices. A combination of primary and
secondary research allowed the team to develop a
formal implementation strategy for a high-impact
sustainability project. The team delivered a detailed
business case supporting the implementation of
this project and emphasizing the importance of
sustainability to BioMarin.