Powering the Immune System to Transform Lives

Vir’s Statement on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting

Vir aspires to create a world without infectious disease. Guided by science, we relentlessly build on our immunologic expertise and technologies in pursuit of transformative medicines for infectious diseases. Our innovations stem from courage and bold ideas. We approach each day with a sense of optimism and humility, recognizing that our strength resides in the diversity of our journeys and the opportunity to learn from each other.

Our commitment to ESG is deeply embedded in our culture and is based on humanitarian principles and practices. We are acutely aware of our interconnectedness, and we take responsibility for doing our part to reduce our impact on the environment, to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce, and to upholding the highest legal, economic and ethical standards.

  • Environment: We recognize the emerging trends of climate change and are dedicated to evaluating practices that reduce our environmental impact, such as recycling, reducing waste and saving energy.
  • Social: We fiercely value diversity of thought and are passionately committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture that extends to our employees, patients, communities and collaborators around the world.
  • Governance: We adhere to strong governance practices and hold ourselves accountable to our high ethical standards. We uphold responsible business practices.

Under each of the categories above, Vir already has, or is in the process of, implementing key initiatives. Selected examples of these initiatives, ongoing and planned, include:

  • Environmental Assessment and Metric Development. Building on the environmental assessment we conducted in 2022, in the year ahead, we will focus on establishing a corporate environmental policy and will continue to evaluate key metrics to track our environmental footprint.
  • Social Contributions.
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). Vir has taken a proactive approach to promoting DE&I. We have a team focused on DE&I to champion the adoption, implementation and ongoing evaluation of our DE&I initiatives. In addition to being an Equal Opportunity Employer, we use third-party artificial intelligence software to recommend word choices and develop job postings to improve the demographic diversity of our applicant pool without bias and increase the speed and efficiency of hiring. Every Vir job description uses this third-party software with a goal to reduce bias in our postings and provides us an opportunity to quantify the impact on our hiring efforts. We also actively use sourcing tools to search for diverse talent and posts all job vacancies on multiple websites designed to source diverse candidates. We also support multiple formalized employee resource groups (ERGs) and critical initiatives such as heritage- and inclusivity-focused all-employee events. Additionally, we have engaged Biddle Consulting Group, a leader in pay equity analysis, to conduct an annual independent audit of our pay practices.
    • Training and Development. We work to provide an environment where all employees can develop personally and professionally. We focus on individual opportunities for growth, providing coaching and mentoring, and cultivating our leaders' capabilities. In addition, we offer ongoing targeted inclusion developmental training for employees and leaders.
    • Community Engagement. We are committed to supporting the global communities in which we live and work, as well as the patient communities we serve. In 2022, Vir supported more than 20 organizations around the world dedicated to advancing education and care for people living with infectious diseases, as well as those promoting equity in underserved communities.
    • External Mentorship and Education Programs. Vir annually allocates funds in support of and in partnership with universities such as San Francisco State University (SFSU) to create external mentorship programs. Since 2020, we have run a mentorship program at SFSU targeting underrepresented groups who are pursuing Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degrees and who may not be aware of or consider careers in life sciences. Programs include mentoring, lab tours, and career readiness developmental sessions. In 2022, we expanded our Biotechnology STEM Scholars program by providing full-ride scholarships to underrepresented SFSU students in need.
  • Strong Governance. Vir values the diversity of its leaders, with female and minority directors comprising over 45% of the current board and women comprising 50% of Vir’s senior leadership team. We adhere to board refreshment practices, and our board and committees conduct annual self-assessments. In addition, we have stock ownership guidelines for directors and executive management.

We remain committed to our ESG initiatives and will report on our future progress.