betapharm awarded the Citizens’ Culture Prize 2006 by the Bavarian parliament.

ICCA is an independent, non-profit organisation which has specialised in bringing together executives from global companies, worldwide organisations and well-known scientists to support them in a sustainable way in their efforts to combine the pursuit of business goals with the benefit of society.

In December 2006 betapharm was honoured with the Citizens’ Culture Prize by the Bavarian parliament. This award is given once a year and in 2006 ran under the motto:“ Companies with civil commitment”. The jury placed particular value on the sustainability and exemplary character of the initiatives.

This prize recognised in particular betapharm’s commitment to the model “Bunter Kreis”. The “Bunter Kreis”, founded in 1993, is an aftercare facility for families of children with serious and chronic diseases. It counsels and accompanies the families especially in the phase after the child leaves the hospital, gives the family members caring for the child a feeling of confidence and competence in their interaction with the child, and connects them as quickly as possible to the local aid facilities. All these measures enable the families to find a good way of dealing with the illness.

betapharm has continued to support the Bunter Kreis Augsburg since 1998,as the main sponsor.Moreover, this commitment gave rise to the idea of spreading this aftercare model throughout Germany. For this reason, the betapharm aftercare foundation was set up in 1998 too. To date, there are over 20 similar aftercare facilities in Germany. They are incorporated in the prestigious organisation of Bunter Kreis and the foundation is the responsible body for the organisation.

The prize money of the Citizens’ Culture Award has also been invested in a worthwhile way: betapharm donated the 10, 000 Euro at the award ceremony straight to the betapharm foundation.

Social commitment is part and parcel of betapharm’s company strategy. It is acted on throughout the whole company, led by the motto: “eight flowers for you, one for me”.i.e. give a lot, but receive a little in return, too.