The 12th Volunteering Month at Lek, a Sandoz company, well under way

  • Today, a central part of the volunteering activities that Lek, a Sandoz company, has been organizing for the 12th year running as part of the global Novartis volunteering initiative Community Partnership Day, was held.
  • On the occasion of this year’s 20th anniversary of Novartis and 70th anniversary of Lek, a Sandoz company, a record 600 plus associates are participating in more than 20 activities that are being held from March 25 to April 24 from Debeli rtič to Lendava, and from Kolpa to Kranjska Gora.
  • Over 12 years of volunteering, more than 3,900 Novartis associates in Slovenia were lending a helping hand to more than 60 different organizations and more than 12,000 people. They have set a good example encouraging other companies in Slovenia to conduct such programs as well.
31. 3. 2016

Today, a central part of the volunteering activities that Lek, a Sandoz company, has been organizing for the 12th year running as part of the global Novartis volunteering initiative Community Partnership Day, was held. The associates from Ljubljana, Mengeš, Lendava, Kranjska Gora and Prevalje spent time with the elderly, organized trips for children and adults with special needs, maintained the surroundings of schools and other institutions, cooked lunches, played football with the refugees from the Ljubljana Asylum Center and took them to visit the Zoo.

»For the 12th year in the row, we have been opening our hearts and dedicating our time to those in need. All of us, who have been active as volunteers for a number of years, know that these moments stay in peoples’ hearts forever. When you see and feel the contentment that you have brought to somebody just by visiting or by dedicating your time and attention, then you really understand how little it actually takes for people to be happy and content. This feeling is priceless. And anybody can give his/her time, however, in a hectic daily routine this is often forgotten. Therefore it is important to be repeatedly reminded of this, and so precious that once a year we carry this out with our associates within our working hours,« said Katarina Klemenc, Head of Corporate Communication at Lek, a Sandoz company.

Lek, a Sandoz company, kicked-off its volunteering activities on March 25 with a blood donation involving the associates from Mengeš and Ljubljana, continuing with the collection of food for socially handicapped people and abandoned animals and assisting in the preparation of food packages at the Red Cross. The activities will be continuing throughout April, with blood donation in Prevalje and Lendava, visiting the residents from the Ljubljana, Mengeš, Lendava and Prevalje homes for the elderly. These visits are especially warm-hearted. The volunteers will lend a helping hand to individuals and organizations who need support: they will take the residents of the Occupational Activity Center INCE Mengeš on a boat trip on the Ljubljanica river and children with special needs on a visit to the Minicity in Ljubljana; they will help maintain the grounds and premises of the Mali Dom in Šiška – Training, Occupation and Care Center Dolfka Boštjančič, the Red Cross health resort in Debeli rtič, the Special Education Center Janez Levec in Dečkova street in Ljubljana and the animal shelter in Horjul, the Volunteer Fire Brigade Mengeš, the Lendava Bilingual Primary School II and the SAFY holiday resorts in Kranjska Gora and Pacug; they will also take part in the revival of wells in the Kočevje region and Kolpa valley as a part of the clean-up operation in the municipality of Kočevje “Kočevska Cleanup 2016”; organize a sports day with swimming for children at the Lendava Bilingual Primary School II; organize a fun day at the Hotel Lek in Kranjska Gora for children with special needs attending the Polde Stražišar Primary School in Jesenice; plant trees around Logatec and in the grounds of the Valentin Vodnik primary School in Ljubljana; cook lunch for the residents of the Altra Center in Prevalje and, in cooperation with the humanitarian association Slovenian Philanthropy, play in a football tournament with the refugees from the Asylum Center in Ljubljana and take their families to visit the Zoo.

With the Volunteering Month, the associates of Novartis Slovenia are joining more than 27,000 Novartis associates around the world who, as part of the global Community Partnership Day, lend a hand as volunteers in their local communities. Over 12 years of volunteering, more than 3,900 Novartis associates in Slovenia have been lending a helping hand to more than 60 different organizations and more than 12,000 people.

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Lek, a Sandoz company, is one of the key pillars of the second-largest generic pharmaceutical company globally. Its role within Sandoz is to act as: a leading global development center for technologically demanding products and technologies; a key global manufacturing center for active pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines; a competence center for the development of vertically integrated products; a Sandoz competence center in the field of development and manufacturing of biosimilar active ingredients and products; a supply center for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South East Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and is responsible for marketing and sales of Sandoz products on the Slovenian market. For further information, please visit http://www.lek.si/en.

Sandoz, a Novartis company, is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, driving sustainable access to high-quality healthcare. Sandoz supplies a broad range of affordable, primarily off-patent products to patients and customers around the globe. The Sandoz portfolio comprises approximately 1,100 molecules, which accounted for 2015 sales of USD 9.2 billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area. The company holds leading global positions in biosimilars as well as in generic anti-infectives, ophthalmics and transplantation medicines.

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2015, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.4 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 8.9 billion (USD 8.7 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 119,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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This press release contains statements and conclusions based on projections of Lek’s future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.

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For additional information contact:
Katarina Klemenc
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d. d.
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
Fax: +386 1 580 24 32
katarina.klemenc@sandoz.com