Il nuovo valore sostenibile dell’impresa farmaceutica quale sistema aperto relazionale

Objectives. This research has the aim to investigate the approach to sustainability on the part of pharmaceutical companies, considering both the governance philosophy and a more practical dimension. Methodology. This is a qualitative research, conducted in particular through an interview to a key-informer and through the analysis of a case study, based on a semi-structured on-line questionnaire completed by the Directorate-General of a multinational pharmaceutical corporation. Findings. Results show a new business model, based on the so-called “health outcomes”, which represent a new sustainable value proposition applied to the Health Service and to its patients with the creation of a series of partnerships with some healthcare companies and other stakeholders, through an effective corporate communication, fundamental for its reputation. Research limits. Findings cannot be generalized because this is a qualitative and explorative research, which represents, moreover, a preliminary study; furthermore the collected information are related to a company and not to the whole marketplace. Practical implications. The sustainability orientation and the intersystem relationships could simplify the creation and the management of the pathologies and assistance networks and the degree of a vertical integration of the research in the perspective of a long lasting relationship with doctors, patients and the scientific associations and, indirectly, of drugs promotion, making the relationship logic an opportunity of strategic development. Originality of the study. The analysis of sustainable corporation, corporate social responsibility and corporate communication, interpreted through a system viewpoint, with reference to the pharmaceutical sector, is not a topic examined in depth by academic scholars.