• It expands its WATERCARE project, a set of initiatives for the care of water, a resource that makes up 70% of the planet and 60% of humans.

During an event featuring Cantabria Labs CEO Susana Rodríguez and environmental journalist José Luis Gallego, the Spanish pharmaceutical company unveiled to the media its commitment to people and the planet through its “Celebrate life Manifesto”, which was presented in conjunction with a series of new water care initiatives, WATERCARE.

Celebrate life sums up the goal  of Cantabria Labs, which is to improve the quality and health of people in order to celebrate life. That is why  the manifesto, ” reflects the commitment Cantabria Labs has made  over the past  30 years of its development, the  next steps it will take towards fulfilling its mission, and the  way it will give   back to society what it receives from science,” commented Cantabria Labs’ CEO, Susana Rodríguez.

 

Celebrate Life Manifesto – LIFE: Past, Present and Future

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are divided into  three main areas: people, environment and economic growth. Cantabria Labs has developed  its manifesto based on the values that it believes t contribute to life: innovation, entrepreneurship and caring, to be close to people in order to take them far.

Innovation: SDGs 3 and 9

 

With a passion for innovation, Cantabria Labs seeks to provide solutions to present and future health problems. All its people work towards this common goal in line with  the Sustainable Development Goals: Health and Innovation (SDG 3 and 9), through, for example, the development of ingredients, research  studies and clinical trials, as well as the creation  of the Celebrate innovation Awards and  the signing of cooperation agreements  with MIT.

Entrepreneurship: SDGs 4, 6, 7 and 12

   

Cantabria Labs was  pioneered  the discovery of oral photoprotection thanks to its restless nature and  work with Harvard University more than 25 years ago. This non-conformist spirit, together with a commitment to quality education (SDG 4), continuous improvement and the development of different solutions to improve the lives of people and the planet, have contributed to the launch of recent projects such as the eco-sustainable innovation and production centre in La Concha,  Cantabria (SDG 6, 7 and 12) with the Water Laboratory,   the on-going scholarship project in Africa, and training in universal human values with the  What Really Matters Foundation (SDG 4).

Caring: SDGs 1, 2, 8 and 10

   

Without fighting to eradicate poverty and hunger, people’s development and economic growth is not possible. Together with the Emalaikat Foundation and Caritas, Cantabria Labs supports social solidarity and protection programmes to help those  most vulnerable. By reducing their exposure and vulnerability to climate events and other economic, social and environmental disasters, Cantabria Labs has shown  its commitment for more than 25 years to 783 million people living below the international poverty line. Reducing inequalities and promoting  economic growth and decent work are thus the second step in its  work and commitment in this area, for example, in collaboration with the AMPROS Association and ASTOR INLADE, or  recently,  the Querer Foundation. The positive net employment experienced by Cantabria Labs over the past year and the creation of more than 150 jobs with the opening  the new facility in Cantabria, are a tangible sign of its dedication to creating and ensuring  dignified,  stable employment. Closeness   to  people characterises its  management model to ensure  a sustainable project over time.

 

WATERCARE: programme for the care of the natural resource water.

70% of the planet Earth is made of water, and 60% of our bodies. For the past 25 years, Cantabria Labs has actively contributed to bringing clean water and sanitation to more than 41,400 people in Africa through the Emalaikat Foundation, and recently, its activities have  focused even more on this resource as part of the global  WATERCARE programme.

In 2019, Cantabria Labs  opened its R&D and eco-sustainable production centre in Cantabria, located on a territory with  a unique mineral-medicinal spring which previously had been emptied and dispersed  into a nearby e river. Today, the Water Laboratory makes it possible to use reneable and CO2-emission-free energy to  heat its facilities.. The natural temperature of the  water is  39ºC and thus it represents an important geothermal resource, The daily flow is the  equivalent to  an olympic-sized  swimming pool  which makes it possible to have sufficient quantities  to irrigate the land and,  once purified, be used as an ingredient in for topical product formulations.

Clean water and sanitation (SDG6), together with  affordable and non-polluting energy (SDG7), are part of Cantabria Labs’ current challenges as part of  WATERCARE. The programme focusses on  its commitment to water care from three angles: as the main need of human beings, as a resource that must be managed in a sustainable way, and as a means and help for environmental conservation.

To this end, Cantabria Labs has signed an agreement with Gravity Wave, whose mission is to transform 100% of the plastic waste collected from the Mediterranean and Cantabrian seas into recycled products and materials to create unique products in an exemplary  circular economy model. In the same way, the Spanish pharmaceutical company will be moving to work to  care for the  estuaries and rivers of  the local Cantabrian ecosystem, as well as with the Tagus Hydrographic Confederation. It has also signed important agreements with various organisations to promote biodiversity.

With respect to the valuable resource of water,  naturalist and journalist  José Luis Gallego commented,  “we use water to quench our thirst,  grow food and  maintain our hygiene. We also use it to make energy,  it is a means of transport,  and we turn it into an economic resource to generate value and wealth. But beyond any other quality or its value as a resource, water is the lifeblood of nature: it is the essential element for life on our planet and, as such, we must respect, care for and protect it.”

With a focus on future generations, Cantabria Labs thus presented its commitment and management model to give back to society and the planet what  it receives from science. It also took advantage of the event  to announce the company’s 2021  annual results:  a consolidated net balance of 242 million euros, 23% growth compared to the previous year and an optimistic forecast for closing in 2023 with  around 18% growth.