Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

2021-12-01

To our stakeholders:

I am pleased to confirm that Atlas Antibodies AB reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption, though 2021 has been a challenging year with continued effects of the covid-19 pandemic requiring a shift of focus to ensure the continued supply of our products that enable research on protein in human tissues, for Covid-19 research as well as for many other human diseases and conditions.

In this annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

Sincerely yours,

Nille Klaebel
CEO

Atlas Antibodies AB operates and employs staff within the UN member state of Sweden which, through its UN membership, is bound to follow the Universal declaration of Human Rights in national legislation and politics. As a company we support the universal declaration of Human Rights and respect our national laws.

Our written policy on respecting Human Rights is included in our Code of Conduct effective 2018-06-18 and our Sustainability policy effective 2020-03-27. These policies also include our whistleblowing function for reporting potential violations.

All of our supplier and partnership agreements are updated to include our requirements for suppliers to follow our Code of Conduct upon their renewal.

We work through a risk-based approach when it comes to focusing mitigation efforts after identifying highest risk areas through risk assessment.

Specific goals in the area of Human Rights for the past year (2021) were:
1) Risks to Human Rights violations will be mitigated in accordance to criticality based on an assessment of probability, impact and detectability.
2) Formal processes for supplier qualification and performance evaluation of suppliers will be put in place in 2021 through our ISO 9001 QMS implementation that is scoped to also include sustainability factors.

Specific goals in the area of Human Rights the upcoming year (2022) are:
1) Further assessment of all relevant suppliers for their sustainability risk in accordance with the procedure for supplier qualification
2) Update of the company risk analysis to reflect progress and identify new risk factors

As a way for any of our stakeholders to report any suspected Human Rights violations or grievances, our Code of Conduct encourages employees to report to management but there is also a whistleblowing function for any stakeholder to use, connected to an external law firm.

Our employees are all located within our operations within Sweden where Human Rights are adhered to as these are governed by law. Employees that are in contact with external operations that may pose risk for Human Rights violations, have been trained in sustainability, sustainable supply chains and supplier visits and audits.

For us to be able to understand the expectations of our stakeholders a stakeholder matrix has been created within our ISO 9001 QMS implementation initiative, which is scoped to also include sustainability factors. This matrix is a living document that is continuously revised.

The CEO is internally responsible for protecting Human Rights within the company and the Quality Assurance function is externally responsible for stating requirements for suppliers and performing periodic evaluation of supplier performance with regards to our requirements and contracts.

A revised Work Environment Policy was approved and set effective on 2020-03-27.

External audits of our company's compliance with the UNGC and company policies will be performed in the future, though the focus for 2022 is to put effective actions in place to improve our state of sustainability compliance in accordance to the UNGC. Further supplier visits or audits have been prohibited by the Covid-19 pandemic.

There have been no investigations, legal cases, ruling, fines or other relevant events related to Human Rights during this reporting period.

A company overall risk analysis was performed in the end of 2018 and has been annually updated for progress.

Our most critical suppliers have been identified and contracted under terms to follow our Code of Conduct.

Identification of suspected Human Rights violations is made possible through informing our employees and training them on how to deal with Human Rights violations through implementation of the company Code of Conduct that was put in effect on 2018-06-18 and our Sustainability Policy effective 2020-03-27. All new employees receive training in the Code of Conduct and the Sustainability Policy as part of their on-boarding.

Through the ISO 9001 certification that was approved August 2nd 2021, sustainability was woven into the supplier qualification process risk assessment and a first assessment of current suppliers was completed. For 2022 further understanding of supplier sustainability risk needs to be analysed and supplier action plans need to be put in place when needed.

During 2021, Atlas Antibodies joined EcoVadis and performed a first self-assessment of our current level of sustainability progress based on documented evidence.
Further improvement of our sustainability standards will be done in accordance with the improvement suggestions given from the EcoVadis scorecard.
For human & labor rights our score was 70/100 which is well above the general trend of 46, though improvement work still needs to be done.

In Q3 of 2018 we performed supplier visits to our most critical suppliers without any identified concerns for corruption. Follow-up visits for these suppliers were planned for Q2 of 2021 but the covid-19 pandemic halted our possibilities for travel. Follow-up visits and visits to additional suppliers are to be planned as soon as the state of the covid-19 pandemic allows.

UNGC principles 3, 4, 5 and 6 are all governed by Swedish law to be complied by all companies that are operating in Sweden, which includes Atlas Antibodies AB.

At Atlas Antibodies, work environment requirements are implemented through a setup of policy, reporting and handling of work environment risks and incidents, participation from employee work environment representatives and a quarterly safety committee meeting where all relevant work environment functions and topics are included. Managers are delegated work environment tasks to be performed within their respective teams. We perform internal work environment risk analysis and inspections of our facilities to ensure that our work environment conditions are compliant and safe.

Our company policies on Labour Rights include our Code of Conduct effective 2018-06-18, Work Environment Policy effective 2020-03-27 and Sustainability Policy effective 2020-03-27. Additional policies for equal treatment arebeing drafted to be approved by our board of directors in 2022.

Employee Labour Rights are governed by Swedish law and compensation is governed by employment agreements. There is an employee handbook for management of employee benefits that is complemented by yearly bonus agreements.

All of our supplier and partnership agreements are updated to include our requirements for suppliers to follow our Code of Conduct upon their renewal.

Overall we see little labour-related risks within our internal operations in Sweden though a possible risk of violations committed by suppliers.

Specific goals in the area of Labour Rights for the past year (2020) were:
1) Risks of Labour Rights violations will be mitigated in accordance of criticality based on an assessment of probability, impact and detectability.
2) Formal processes for supplier qualification and performance evaluation of suppliers will be put in place in 2021 through our ISO 9001 QMS implementation that is scoped to also include sustainability factors.

Specific goals in the area of Labour Rights for the upcoming year (2022) are:
1) Further assessment of all relevant suppliers for their sustainability risk in accordance with the procedure for supplier qualification
2) Update of the company risk analysis to reflect progress and identify new risk factors

As a way for any of our stakeholders to report any suspected Labour Rights violations or grievances, our Code of Conduct encourages employees to report to management but there is also a whistleblowing function for any stakeholder to use, connected to an external law firm.

Our employees are all located within our operations within Sweden where Labour Rights are generally well adhered to. Employees that are in contact with external operations, that may pose risk for Labour Rights violations, have been trained in sustainability, sustainable supply chains and supplier visits and audits.

To prevent and identify any inconsistencies in comparable pay for comparable work, a yearly salary overview is performed and acted on by management under the lead of HR, as required by Swedish law.

For us to be able to understand the expectations of our stakeholders a stakeholder matrix has been created within our ISO 9001 QMS implementation initiative, which is scoped to also include sustainability factors. This matrix is a living document that is continuously revised.

The CEO is responsible for our operations complying with Swedish labour law and that we have policies and processes in place for our views, tools for management of Labour Rights factors together with our HR manager as advisor.

There are no company specific Labour Rights policies as Swedish labour law supercedes any local policy and is deemed in line with the UNGC principles.

Data on employee diversity factors are kept by the company as long as this data is not considered sensitive data, such as ethnicity or religion.

Any Labour Rights violation incidents are strictly governed by Swedish law and managed through proactive company policies and principles for equal treatment.

There have been no investigations, legal cases, ruling, fines or other relevant events related to Labour Rights during this reporting period.

A company overall risk analysis was performed in the end of 2018 and has been annually updated for progress.

Our most critical suppliers have been identified and contracted under terms to follow our Code of Conduct.

Identification of suspected Labour Rights violations is made possible through informing our employees and training them on how to deal with Labour Rights violations through implementation of the company Code of Conduct that was put in effect on 2018-06-18 and our Sustainability Policy effective 2020-03-27. All new employees receive training in the Code of Conduct and the Sustainability Policy as part of their on-boarding.

Through the ISO 9001 certification that was approved August 2nd 2021, sustainability was woven into the supplier qualification process risk assessment and a first assessment of current suppliers was completed. For 2022 further understanding of supplier sustainability risk needs to be analysed and supplier action plans need to be put in place when needed.

During 2021, Atlas Antibodies joined EcoVadis and performed a first self-assessment of our current level of sustainability progress based on documented evidence.
Further improvement of our sustainability standards will be done in accordance with the improvement suggestions given from the EcoVadis scorecard.
For human & labor rights our score was 70/100 which is well above the general trend of 46, though improvement work still needs to be done.

In Q3 of 2018 we performed supplier visits to our most critical suppliers without any identified concerns for corruption. Follow-up visits for these suppliers were planned for Q2 of 2021 but the covid-19 pandemic halted our possibilities for travel. Follow-up visits and visits to additional suppliers are to be planned as soon as the state of the covid-19 pandemic allows.

Our environmental impact has been assessed to be relatively low as our batch production volumes are within a millilitre scale and our procurement volumes are on the litre level. Our major environmental impact was initially identified as caused by transport, consumption of energy and separation of waste.

Our company policies on Environment include our Code of Conduct effective 2018-06-18, and our Sustainability Policy effective 2020-03-27. This sustainability policy includes elevated awareness of environmental impact by management of company vehicles, consumption of resources and energy and management of waste including reusable materials, recycling and separation of hazardous waste.

All of our supplier and partnership agreements are updated to include our requirements for suppliers to follow our Code of Conduct upon their renewal.

Specific goals in the area of environmental protection for the past year (2021) were:
1) To perform a more detailed assessment of the environmental footprint caused by the company. This goal has been post-poned from 2020 due to the covid-19 focus shift.
2) To implement actions focused on the environmental impact of our operations within Sweden.

Specific goals in the area of environmental protection for the upcoming year (2022) are:
1) To deliver on the goals set for 2021, that have been further post-poned due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, where focus was shifted to continued supply to our customers.

The Sustainability Policy include raised levels of environmental requirements for procurement of material, management of waste as well as standards for consumption of energy, paper, water, electricity and use of company vehicles.

New requirements include minimizing consumption of electricity and energy which is mainly caused by lighting and bench-top equipment that are to be turned off at the end of the workday. Full loading of dishwashers and washing machines are stated as requirements to reduce consumption of electricity and water.

Development of technology that is more environmentally friendly is a future aim, though not prioritized for 2021 as we are focusing on detailed assessments and performing actions to mitigate currently known major risks to the environment.

A future step is to widen our company ambitions for reducing environmental footprint of our suppliers' operations.

Energy, electricity and water consumption as well as amounts of waste are monitored through billing statements from each service source. These resources will be monitored more closely as actions are put in place to be fully compliant with the new sustainability policy.

Compliance of sustainability factors overall, that are not governed by Swedish law, is the responsibility of the Quality Assurance department.

Management of environmental incident reporting was introduced in 2020 with no reported incidents. Staff since 2020 been continuously trained in chemical handling, including proper waste management.

During 2020 a company vehicle running on diesel was replaced by a fully electric vehicle and two new company vehicles were leased as plug-in hybrids. One company vehicle running on petrol is still to be replaced upon lease tearmination, and in 2021 three new company cars were leased of which one is fully electric and two are hybrid electric.

There have been no investigations, legal cases, ruling, fines or other relevant events related to Environment during this reporting period.

Environmental impact factors were included in the company performance evaluation through management review that is done by senior management as a part of the ISO 9001 QMS.

Future supplier visits and audits will include sustainability topics as required by our company Sustainability Policy and supplier agreements. A future environmental certification according to ISO 14001 is possible but not prioritized for 2022.

External audits of our company's compliance with the UNGC and company policies may be performed in the future, though the focus for 2022 is to continue assessing suppliers in a risk-based approach and acting on goals that were post-poned from 2021.

Based on our experience of working with our suppliers and partners we have not seen any signs of bribery or corruption.

Our employees are all located within our operations within Sweden where corruption and bribery is rare in occurrence. Employees that are in contact with external operations that may pose risk for bribery or corruption, have been trained in sustainability, sustainable supply chains and supplier visits and audits.

Our company policies on Anti-corruption includes our Code of Conduct effective 2018-06-18 and our Sustainability Policy effective 2020-03-27.

Our company has, through our CEO, clearly stated our support for the UNGC and its ten principles including anti-corruption principles. These principles are implemented in our company policies and in our affected processes.

All of our supplier and partnership agreements are updated to include our requirements for suppliers to follow our Code of Conduct upon their renewal.

Specific goals in the area of anti-corruption for the past year (2021) were:
1) Risks to anti-corruption violations will be mitigated in accordance to criticality based on an assessment of probability, impact and detectability.

Specific goals in the area of anti-corruption for the upcoming year (2022) are:
1) Further mitigiation of suppliers according to risk prioritization and in accordance to the supplier qualification process.

As a way for any of our stakeholders to report any suspected Labour corruption, our Code of Conduct encourages employees to report to management but there is also a whistleblowing function for any stakeholder to use, connected to an external law firm.

The company views on corruption is clearly stated in our Code of Conduct which is implemented by all staff and available for guidance.

The CEO is responsible for our operations complying with Swedish anti-corruption laws and that we have policies and processes in place for our views and tools for management of corruption factors.

So far we have not participated in any industry initiative or other collective actions against corruption but we are open to the possibility of participating in such an initiative. We have so far not seen a need for collective actions within our industry.

The company Code of Conduct clearly states how to deal with suspicion or incidents of corruption, including insider trading, money-laundering, and improper benefits.

Senior management review has not yet been implemented but implementation is planned for Q1 of 2021 through our ISO 9001 QMS implementation.

There have been no investigations, legal cases, ruling, fines or other relevant events related to corruption during this reporting period.

In Q3 of 2018 we performed supplier visits to our most critical suppliers without any identified concerns for corruption. Follow-up visits for these suppliers were planned for Q2 of 2021 but the covid-19 pandemic halted our possibilities for travel. Follow-up visits and visits to additional suppliers are to be planned as soon as the state of the covid-19 pandemic allows.

External audits of sustainability factors and compliance with the UNGC and company policies will be performed in the future, though the focus for 2022 is to further understand the risk level of suppliers based on the risk assessment, and find effective actions in to be fully compliant with the UNGC.