Our primary focus at Sarepta is bringing potentially lifesaving and life-changing medicines to rare disease patients around the world. Currently, we have over 40 programs in various stages of development. The pillars that support our important mission are our 5 cultural values which permeate the hearts and minds of every Sarepta employee, who work tirelessly every day on behalf of the patients and families awaiting new treatments.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is woven into the fabric of our identity. As a growing biotechnology company, our dedication to human health and our desire to make a positive impact in the world extends to our employees. We strive to deliver an inclusive environment and want the experience of every member of the Sarepta team to be positive, professionally rewarding and personally fulfilling.
Sarepta’s cultural values, the foundational behaviors that support the way we operate, embed our shared commitment to inclusivity in our day-to-day actions. At Sarepta, we value diverse and innovative self-starters who are committed to excellence and improving the lives of our patients.
We are committed to ensuring our innovations reach as many patients as possible, as quickly as possible. We believe it is our responsibility to act as a true partner with patient communities, both in the near- and long-term.
SareptAssist is a patient support program designed to provide individuals with the information to navigate the process of starting and staying on therapy. This program is for individuals residing in the United States who are eligible for treatment with a Sarepta product.
We have dedicated professionals who make up our global Patient Affairs team. They work every day to ensure the patient voice is incorporated into our work. We regularly engage with the patient community through informational webinars, awareness and fundraising events such as community walks/runs and through ongoing dialogue at advocacy and scientific conferences around the globe. Throughout our global offices, annual recognition of Rare Disease Day, Duchenne Action Month, Duchenne Awareness Day, Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy Awareness Day and several other awareness events are opportunities for our passionate team to demonstrate a shared commitment to the individuals and patients we aim to serve.
The patient voice is also an important and regular aspect of our quarterly All Employee Meetings. We frequently invite a patient or member of the community to speak and spend part of the day with us. We’ve instituted robust philanthropic initiatives, including a Grants & Donations program, Sponsorships, Fellowships, Investigator-Initiated Studies, and Medical Education Grants. In 2018, we launched our first scholarship program designed to help defray the cost of higher education for individuals living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
As part of our commitment to equity, data integrity, and scientific leadership, Sarepta continues to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for our employees and patient communities. We are working towards breaking the demographic, socio-economic, and geographical barriers to accessing scientific/educational information, participation in clinical trials, and treatment. Specific actions and accomplishments to date include: convening an internal, executive-sponsored task force, PEACE (Patient Equity and Access Cross-functional Exchange), to map and measure our progress organization-wide, designing a DEI-focused virtual learning module for investigative sites, and partnering with patient advocacy groups. As we continue to explore what patient equity and access mean at Sarepta, we believe that clinical trial diversity is essential to our overall mission of engineering precision genetic medicine for rare diseases that devastate lives and cut futures short.
To have the greatest impact on the lives of patients and caregivers, we must promote a culture that demands our best – one that rewards passion, talent, hard work, creativity, and positive contributions to our mission. A true meritocracy requires that collectively, we embrace our individual contributions and the diverse backgrounds and perspectives each of us brings to our work. By advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we not only support our employees, we enable our ability to excel. To live DEI, we speak up, challenge ideas respectfully, and celebrate each other’s unique contributions to the mission. We learn and act every day because this work is never done.
At Sarepta, we strive to foster an environment where everyone can thrive. We are committed to building a culture that is diverse and promotes a sense of belonging, equity and personal and professional development across the organization. In the area of gender diversity, representation of women has increased over the past several years: in 2017 and 2018, women made up approximately half of our workforce, in 2019 this percentage totaled 54%, in 2020 it reached 55%, in 2021 the percentage increased to 56% and in 2022 it increased further to 57%. In 2017, women represented 35% of the leadership positions at the Director level and above. This percentage increased to 36% in 2018, remained at 44% in 2019 and 2020, increased to 48% in 2021 and in 2022 reached 52%. Our commitment to gender diversity is also reflected in our Board composition where in 2021, women held 29% of the Board seats, including the Chair of the Board.
The number of employees identifying as people of color* has also increased from 23% of our workforce in 2017 and 2018, to 26% in 2019. In 2020 and 2021, that number remained at 30% and increased to 34% in 2022. In 2017, employees identifying as people of color represented 21% of leadership positions at the Director level and above, increasing to 25% in 2018 and 2019. The percentage further increased to 28% in 2020 and decreased in 2021 to 25% and remained at 25% for 2022. Our Executive Committee, which represents the most senior leadership positions in the Company, is 63% diverse based on gender and ethnicity.
*People or Person of Color (POC) - includes Asian, Black, Indigenous, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, multi-racial, Hispanic/Latinx and other non-white populations.
We have five Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that aim to foster an environment where all of our colleagues feel valued for their unique perspectives and are empowered to contribute to the success of our organization and their personal career growth. As of December 2020, more than half of our colleagues participate as active members of an ERG.
Supporting and giving back to the communities in which we live and work are at the core of our values. Our initiatives include:
We are committed to our employees and believe in the importance of supporting them in all aspects of their lives. We aspire to maintain a culture of wellness and development through a variety of programs:
We are also committed to ensuring our employees receive the training needed to excel in their roles and achieve our mission, including trainings related to:
In support of our employees’ continued growth and ongoing success, we have a global goal-setting and development planning process and seek to promote a culture of continuous learning through the programs below:
In addition to supporting the health, wellness and professional development of our employees, we are committed to providing safe working conditions through our Employee Health and Safety program, key components of which include:
The health of our planet and the health of humanity are inextricably linked. At Sarepta Therapeutics, we believe in doing our part in supporting the health of the communities in which we live and work and are dedicated to protecting the health and safety of our employees, as we pursue our mission of developing precision genetic medicines for individuals living with rare disease.
Our Dedication to Health & Safety: Sarepta Therapeutics maintains a healthy and safe work environment for its employees by providing a harm-free workplace. Employee health and safety efforts are centered on education, training and awareness, and our policies are centered around personal accountability and the ability to identify risks. As an organization dedicated to employee health and safety, our executive leadership team prioritizes all matters related to health and safety, acting to mitigate risks and identify opportunities for improvement.
Our Commitment to Environmental Stewardship: The impact of climate change is far reaching, including posing short-term and long-term risks to our employees and the patients we serve. We understand that energy, water, and materials use; greenhouse gas emissions; material and hazardous waste; and transportation are among the largest contributors to our environmental footprint. As our business continues to grow, we will continue to recognize the importance of understanding, mitigating, and reporting our environmental footprint.
Our EHS Policy in Practice: Sarepta Therapeutics will comply with all applicable EHS regulations and company standards. This EHS Policy is communicated to employees from the start of employment during an EHS Orientation and continually thereafter. All employees and contractors must comply with this EHS policy and applicable EHS programs and follow role specific training curricula. Employees and contractors must act in a manner that protects themselves, their colleagues, the community, and the environment.
Sarepta has a responsibility and is eager to protect our environment. We understand the connection between the health of our planet and the health of humanity. The impacts of climate change are far reaching, including short-term and long-term risks to human health. Our mission will always be delivering precision genetic medicines with urgency to our patients, but we recognize opportunities to do our part in creating a healthy environment for patients, our people and communities.
We have a responsibility to protect our environment and understand that individual actions make a difference. We are committed to being environmentally responsible members of the community and support our people in that effort as well. To further these efforts we sponsor the following programs:
Commuting:
Facilities and lab space: