Better Health for All

Ascendis Pharma's core business is developing therapies for rare endocrine diseases and oncology, with two approved products (Skytrofa and Yorvipath) and five product candidates in clinical development.

Their products aim to provide significant health benefits, such as replacing daily injections for growth hormone deficiency and improving quality of life for children with achondroplasia, with 95-97% of their portfolio delivering exceptional health benefits. However, SKYTROFA has common adverse reactions, including viral infection (15%), pyrexia (15%), and cough (11%), which translates to a high adverse event rate. The company offers patient assistance programs like the Ascendis Signature Access Program (A·S·A·P) and a Co-Pay Program, which can reduce monthly costs to as low as $5 with an annual cap of $6,000 or $12,000. These programs are not available to patients on federal/state healthcare programs or cash-paying patients. The company focuses on rare endocrine diseases and oncology, and has an Expanded Access Program and Compassionate Use Program for TransCon PTH for patients with hypoparathyroidism where other options are unavailable. The company discloses clinical trial designs and results through public databases and has a Whistleblower Hotline. R&D costs were €413.5 million in 2023. The company initiated collection of Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions data and improved freezing processes in laboratories. The company's clinical trials have shown underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latinx patients (2-6% participation vs. 13% of cancer patients). The company supports healthcare professionals through training and provides a maximum annual aggregate limit of $2000 for gifts to California healthcare professionals. The company monitors glucose levels and thyroid function for patients on SKYTROFA. The company complies with Danish Financial Statements Act Section 99d (Data Ethics) and HIPAA for its partnership with Mount Sinai. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a disproportionate impact on people of color. The company conducted a survey where 100% of hypoparathyroidism patients reported negative psychological impacts. The company holds over 300 issued patents and 550 patent applications. The company provides grants for medical and scientific research and supports continued medical education for healthcare professionals. The company adheres to ethical standards for clinical trials, including the Declaration of Helsinki, and has an Internal Committee for Animal Welfare.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies. The company does not offer lending or deposit services to consumers, nor does it have APR or fee structures to evaluate for financial products. It does not generate revenue from high-cost financial products or penalty fees. The company's core business lies outside finance, and it is not regulated as a lender.

While Ascendis Pharma offers patient assistance programs (e.g., Co-Pay Program, Patient Assistance Program, FastStart Program, A·S·A·P) to help eligible patients access its medical treatments, these are not financial services or products that directly impact customer credit, savings, or debt burden. Therefore, all KPIs related to financial services, lending practices, or financial literacy programs are not applicable to its operations.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Ascendis Pharma's overall employee rating is 2.4 out of 5 stars.

Additionally, 29% of employees would recommend working at the company to a friend, and 39% approve of the CEO. The company maintains a Code of Business Conduct & Ethics, a Comprehensive Compliance Program, and a whistleblower hotline with a non-retaliation policy for reporting suspected violations. There is a record of a wrongful termination case filed against Ascendis Pharma, Inc., but no evidence is provided regarding its substantiation as a labor law violation.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

The provided articles do not contain any specific, quantitative data points related to fair trade, ethical sourcing, or the metrics outlined in the rubric.

While Ascendis Pharma mentions a Comprehensive Compliance Program and a Code of Business Conduct & Ethics, there is no evidence regarding fair trade certification share, audit frequency, substantiated forced or child labour incidents, supply chain traceability coverage, remediation speed for violations, ethical clause coverage in supplier contracts, materials risk index, or supplier diversity spend. Therefore, no KPIs can be scored based on the available evidence.

Honest & Fair Business

Ascendis Pharma provides a confidential and anonymous whistleblower hotline, accessible online and via a US toll-free number.

This hotline is specifically for financial concerns, with messages encrypted and delivered directly to the Audit Committee, and procedures for investigation and confidentiality are outlined. However, there is no evidence of independent investigation processes for whistleblower reports. The company also has a Code of Business Conduct & Ethics and a Comprehensive Compliance Program (CCP) designed to prevent, detect, and resolve compliance issues, including an annual spending limit of $2000 for gifts to California healthcare professionals. The CCP is designed to comply with applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and industry guidance. However, the policy appears to focus on domestic operations, with no explicit mention of coverage for international or high-risk markets.

Kind to Animals

Ascendis Pharma has an Internal Committee for Animal Welfare and implemented a mandatory ethical review of all animal study plans/protocols, reflecting the 3R principles (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement).

The company ensures only necessary and scientifically sound animal studies are conducted. As of 2022, Ascendis Pharma no longer conducts in-house animal studies, with all non-clinical studies performed at external Contract Research Organizations (CROs). The company does animal testing for some medical products, services, research, and therapies. Ascendis Pharma signed the Marseille Declaration, which fosters dialogue between the pharmaceutical industry and CROs to prioritize and continuously improve animal welfare in research. The company aims to increase internal awareness and knowledge of Novel Approach Methodologies (NAMs) such as in silico, in vitro, and ex vivo approaches.

No War, No Weapons

The provided articles focus exclusively on Ascendis Pharma's financial performance and its biopharmaceutical operations, including its technology platform and pipeline. There is no information or data available regarding the company's involvement in arms contracts, dual-use technologies, sales to embargoed regimes, peacebuilding initiatives, or any other activities related to the 'No War, No Weapons' ethical value.

Consequently, no assessment can be made against the specified KPIs.

Planet-Friendly Business

No specific, quantitative data for Ascendis Pharma A/S (ASND.US) related to planet-friendly business practices, such as greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy usage, water consumption, waste diversion, or other environmental performance indicators, was found in the provided articles.

The articles explicitly state the absence of such company-specific environmental performance metrics.

Safe & Smart Tech

Ascendis Pharma has a Data Ethics Policy with key principles and a commitment to developing mechanisms for ethical AI use, including for candidate selection where final decisions are human.

However, specific details on oversight or bias monitoring are not provided. The company allows data subjects to exercise GDPR rights, including access, rectification, deletion, and data portability, but requires proof of ID for verification. It states it collects only the minimum necessary personal data and retains contact information for 12 months, video monitoring for 30 days, and unsuccessful job applicant data for 6 months. Clinical trial data and GxP documentation are retained for up to 25 years, and bookkeeping material for 5 years. The company's data request form and privacy policy are designed to comply with GDPR and the EU e-Privacy Directive, and it complies with Section 99d (Data Ethics) of the Danish Financial Statements Act. Ascendis Pharma limits access to personal information to those with a genuine business need and requires third parties to enter into data processing agreements with appropriate security measures. The company has procedures for suspected data security breaches and will notify authorities if legally required.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

The provided articles do not contain any specific data or metrics related to waste diversion, product recyclability, packaging sustainability, recycled content, single-use plastic reduction, take-back programs, circular design principles, waste reduction initiatives, hazardous waste management, product durability, repairability, waste audit frequency, zero waste certification, waste disposal violations, material efficiency, packaging to product ratio, waste reduction targets, supplier waste requirements, or customer waste education.

The articles focus on the company's ethical conduct and compliance programs, without addressing any aspects of zero waste or sustainable products.