ESG & Corporate responsibility
Protagonist is Committed to a Sustainable Future
We strive to limit our environmental impact and carbon footprint at our facilities. Our headquarters in Newark, California supports employees who drive electric vehicles with battery charging. Our headquarters facility is centrally located within the Bay Area, close to various forms of public transportation. Our employees have access to regular shuttles to public transportation, and a benefit program that assists with public transportation expenses. We also offer flexible working arrangements to reduce Bay Area traffic congestion and further reduce our company’s carbon footprint. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were encouraged to limit business travel.
Protagonist is Committed to Patients, Employees and the Life Sciences Community
Patients and employees are critical to Protagonist’s strategy and operations, so we have implemented a number of programs and initiatives to reflect our commitment to these stakeholders.
Drug Access and Pricing
We are committed to providing patients with access to our investigational therapies, to the extent appropriate at the development stage. We are currently focused on our clinical programs and getting our therapies through the approval process and approved as rapidly as possible provided they are shown to be safe and effective. We provide access to our investigational therapies through our clinical trials, including in some cases long-term extensions of those trials that provide access to our therapies for up to several years.
Because we believe pricing should not be a barrier to accessing treatment, we are committed to pricing our medicines responsibly should they be approved for marketing. In this regard, our hope is that no patient in the U.S. forgoes treatment for financial reasons, such as a lack of insurance or ability to afford copayments.
Diversity and Inclusion
Protagonist is committed to equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace, and we have expressed that commitment through various programs and initiatives.
- We are particularly proud of the diversity of our workforce, nearly two-thirds of whom identify as members of underrepresented ethnic communities and more than half of whom identify as female.
- We strive to interview diverse candidates for our open positions.
Our diverse and welcoming corporate culture is critical to our long-term success. Attracting and retaining a highly talented, diverse work force is routinely included in management’s corporate objectives. We track and report to the board of directors regularly on our progress toward that objective.
Board Diversity
Our board of directors places significant emphasis on diversity and actively considers whether nominees assist in achieving a mix of board members that represents a diversity of talents, skills, backgrounds, and expertise. Nearly half of the members of our board identify as female or as members of underrepresented communities.
Human Capital Development
Attracting, developing and retaining talented employees to support the growth of our business is an integral part of our human capital strategy and critical to our success. We continue to seek additions to our staff, although the competition in our industry and in the San Francisco Bay Area where our headquarters is located is significant. We have a performance development review process in which managers provide regular feedback to assist with the development of our employees, including the use of individual plans to assist with career development. The principal purpose of our equity incentive and annual bonus programs is to attract, retain and motivate personnel through the granting of stock-based compensation awards and cash-based performance bonus awards. As a biopharmaceutical company, we recognize the importance of access to high quality healthcare, so we are proud to be one of the relatively few companies to cover 100% of our employees’ monthly healthcare premiums. We offer a package of competitive employee benefits for a company of our size, including 401(k) matching contributions and an employee stock purchase plan.
We also invest in the growth and development of our employees through various training and development programs that help build and strengthen our employees’ leadership and professional skills.
Approximately 20% of our employees are promoted each year. This reflects the quality and readiness of our people to take on new roles, as well as the company’s intentional focus on growing and developing careers, as well as promoting from within.
Health, Safety & Wellbeing
Safeguarding the health and safety of our employees is a top priority. We are committed to providing a safe working environment for all of our employees. Our cross-functional safety committee meets regularly to discuss policies and protocols, strategic planning, business continuity, and other matters related to the pandemic and its potential impacts on our company, employees, and external stakeholders. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented significant changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations. This includes having our non-laboratory employees work remotely at least part-time, while implementing additional safety measures for laboratory and other employees continuing critical on-site work. To support our employees personally and professionally, we have Employee Assistance Programs to address employee challenges and needs.
Continuing Education and Support
As noted in the Community section of our website, we proudly support educational efforts related to therapeutic areas in focus for our company, and life sciences education more broadly. In addition to financial support of continuing education, we are active sponsors, mentors, and hosts for students seeking to broaden their understanding of life sciences in the interest of advancing human health.
1 Members of underrepresented ethnic communities include those who self-identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native.
2 Data as of December 2023
Protagonist is Committed to High Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics
Business Ethics
Protagonist is committed to conducting its business with a high level of integrity and in compliance with laws, rules, regulations and corporate policies applicable to our business. In particular, we are committed to conducting our research and development programs responsibly and safely. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (“Code of Conduct”) describes how our employees should conduct themselves when handling business-related interactions, transactions and opportunities.
Compliance Program
Protagonist has a corporate compliance program designed to help maintain our high professional and ethical standards.
Our team of internal and external legal and compliance professionals regularly reviews our policies against evolving best practices and conducts employee trainings to promote compliance with our Code of Conduct and other important ethics and compliance policies. Protagonist employees receive training on the Code of Conduct and are expected to read, understand and abide by its requirements. They receive additional training on a wide variety of topics, including insider trading, clinical and laboratory practices and anti-harassment, among other matters. Our board of directors receives regular reports on HR and compliance matters.
As our company grows, we continually seek to enhance our compliance program and related policies and procedures, with the involvement and oversight of the board of directors and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the board.
For more information about our governance practices and key compliance policies, see the Investors section of our website.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This website contains statements reflecting our views about our future performance that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identified through the inclusion of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “may,” “plan,” “commit,” target,” and “will,” or similar statements or variations of such terms and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such statements. Forward-looking statements are also aspirational and not guarantees or promises that goals or targets will be met. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. In addition, historical, current and forward-looking sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. Issues identified as material for purposes of, and information otherwise included in, this website may not be considered material for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting purposes. The term “material” used in the context of this website is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as used in the context of our SEC reporting.