Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, not a financial institution.

The 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' value specifically evaluates financial institutions and their impact on financial inclusion and economic opportunity through lending, insurance, or other financial services. The provided articles detail Ultragenyx's corporate social responsibility efforts, patient access programs, and charitable donations, but do not contain any information related to financial products, lending practices, or economic opportunity initiatives as defined by the KPIs for this value. Therefore, no KPIs under this value can be scored based on the evidence provided.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Ultragenyx reported a CEO to median employee pay ratio of 22:1 for 2017.

The company's Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) was 0.58 in 2023, with a Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of 0.83, and zero fatalities for both employees and contractors. The overall employee engagement score was 88% in 2024. The voluntary employee turnover rate was 10.5% in 2023, which the company states is below industry averages. While the company investigates and addresses all reported complaints related to potential breaches of the code of conduct and incidents of discrimination or harassment, no specific count of substantiated labor-law or human-rights violations in the past three years is provided.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

Ultragenyx does not yet audit its suppliers to evaluate compliance with company standards prohibiting slavery and human trafficking, as stated in June 2024.

The company is not aware of any element of slavery, child labor, or human trafficking in its business or supply chains as of June 2024, and maintains a zero-tolerance stance on modern slavery, strictly forbidding suppliers from employing child labor. Ultragenyx does not currently require direct suppliers to certify that their materials are sourced or manufactured in compliance with applicable laws on slavery and trafficking. The company also does not yet verify its direct supply chain to evaluate and address risks of slavery and human trafficking. Suppliers are required to comply with Ultragenyx’s Global Code of Conduct & Ethics through contractual obligation, and the Global Standard for Suppliers, introduced in 2022, applies to all suppliers, setting expectations for labor standards and human rights. Suppliers are expected to determine if products contain conflict minerals (tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold) that may finance armed groups. However, there is no information on the share of spend on high-risk materials. The company also lacks specific data on the percentage of procurement budget directed to indigenous, minority, or local community suppliers, though suppliers are encouraged to include diverse suppliers in subcontracting activities.

Honest & Fair Business

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. has a confidential and anonymous financial concern hotline, required by the SEC, for complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters, allowing for encrypted message submission via web form or phone.

The company mentions established internal investigating protocols for compliance concerns. The company states that if it is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to material errors or non-compliance, covered incentive-based compensation will be subject to reduction and/or repayment, but no restatements are mentioned. Sustainalytics assigned the company a 'Low Risk' ESG rating of 18, ranking it 47th out of 847 companies in the pharmaceutical industry. The board has 8 out of 9 directors who are independent. The company has an anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy in place, but no details on training frequency or effectiveness metrics are provided. The compensation committee retains an independent compensation consulting firm, and the company uses third-party search consultants for director nominees.

Kind to Animals

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. explicitly conducts animal testing, including procedures such as intravenous drug administration and necropsy on rodents, as indicated by a job posting.

However, no quantitative data on the volume of animals used in testing is provided. The company does not provide any information regarding cruelty-free certifications, the use of alternative testing methods, humane certifications for animal operations, wildlife conservation impact, ethical alternatives for animal-derived ingredients, supplier audits for animal welfare, cage-free sourcing, R&D investment in animal-free technologies, animal agriculture ethics, animal-free R&D collaborations, or public policy engagement related to animal welfare. No details about the strength, scope, or enforcement of any animal testing policy are mentioned.

No War, No Weapons

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases.

The provided articles, including corporate responsibility reports, do not contain any information or data indicating involvement in arms manufacturing, defense contracts, or the development or sale of dual-use technologies with military applications. The company's core business is explicitly stated as biopharmaceuticals, and its corporate responsibility reports do not mention any defense-related activities.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The provided articles, including Ultragenyx's 2022 ESG report summary and inaugural ESG report, do not contain specific, quantifiable data points for any of the KPIs related to Respect for Cultures & Communities. There is no explicit evidence regarding formal partnerships with indigenous or local community groups, revenue reinvested in local community development, cultural appropriation incidents, cultural impact assessment protocols, local employment ratios, grievance mechanisms, FPIC participation rates, community governance inclusion, cultural preservation investment, local procurement share, indigenous supplier count, cultural site protection, social license to operate, charitable giving to cultural heritage organizations, community fund allocation, language inclusivity, cultural incident response, or cultural training completion.

While general charitable donations and grants to patient advocacy groups are mentioned, they are not specifically tied to cultural heritage or community development funds as defined by the KPIs.

Safe & Smart Tech

Ultragenyx provides excellent user data control, offering rights to access, delete, and correct personal information, opt-out of commercial emails, and withdraw/cease collection of consumer health data for specific residents, supported by a privacy request webform.

The company's Code of Conduct outlines strong privacy principles for employees handling personal data, including limiting collection to what is necessary, using data for specific purposes, de-identifying when possible, and safeguarding data. Ultragenyx conducts regular penetration and vulnerability testing, data recovery testing, security audits, and ongoing risk assessments for most systems. The company states it retains data as long as needed or permitted based on the relationship with the user, legal obligations, and legal position, and collects various categories of personal information, including sensitive data. Ultragenyx commits to comply with applicable privacy and data protection laws, including GDPR and CCPA, and has a proactive approach to major new requirements. It registers and discloses results of company-sponsored clinical trials in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and makes reasonable efforts to address clinical data requests for legitimate research purposes, with proposals denied if inconsistent with patient privacy and informed consent. The company does not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising and applies reasonable and appropriate safeguards to protect information.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Ultragenyx has implemented three waste reduction initiatives, including a medical waste takeback program that processes regulated medical waste into plastic lumber, a single-stream recycling program across its sites, and a partnership to recycle pipette tip boxes, diverting 950 pounds of plastic waste.

In 2024, the company diverted 60,000 pounds of laboratory waste from incineration. The Translational Sciences lab in Novato, California, achieved Green level My Green Lab certification. The company conducts annual waste audits for major facilities. There have been no waste disposal violations in the past three years. While the company requires suppliers to comply with environmental laws and regulations, including chemical and waste management, and strive for environmental sustainability, no specific waste reduction targets or timelines are mentioned.