Korab Zuka: Leading Sustainability at Novartis

Novartis, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has sharpened its sustainability focus under the leadership of Korab Zuka, who took the role of Global Head of Social Impact and Chief Sustainability Officer at the end of 2024.

Korab, who joined Novartis a year ago, brings a career shaped by social impact work in both the public and private sectors. His role unites sustainability, access to medicine and the company’s philanthropic foundations under one strategy.

For Korab, sustainability is about more than environmental targets. It is intrinsically tied to human health and to Novartis’ mission of widening access to its scientific breakthroughs. As he puts it: “In order for people to have healthy lives, you have to have a healthy planet.”

A journey rooted in impact

While Korab has forged his career across some of the world’s most influential health organisations, his professional beginnings were far from corporate headquarters.

“I worked at the UN Mission in Kosovo,” Korab recalls. “That was the first time I fell in love with wanting to do something that could really have an impact.”

Over the following years, he transitioned from global diplomacy into health-focused non-profits, where he worked on reducing patients’ out-of-pocket costs in Washington DC. That experience, Korab explains, underscored the structural challenges around equity in healthcare.

Later, he moved into the corporate world with senior roles at Gilead Sciences, Bristol Myers Squibb and now Novartis. Each step expanded the scale of his impact, drawing together themes of sustainability, philanthropy and access to innovation.

“Each of the roles I’ve had, I’ve gravitated toward places that enabled me to see real-world impact,” Korab says.

Moving to Novartis

Joining Novartis after years in US-based positions has brought both professional and personal transitions. Now based in Switzerland, he is leading Novartis’ sustainability and social impact agenda, combining a long track record of corporate responsibility with a new global perspective.

“I’ve always admired Novartis,” Korab says. “It has been on the leading edge when it comes to both social impact and sustainability. Even if you look at our net zero target, it’s set for 2040: one of the most ambitious in the pharma industry.”

What impressed him most was not just the bold goal-setting but the focus on execution. “When you actually dig into the execution, you see so much work happening to substantiate those aspirations. That’s admirable for anyone joining in this space.”

Shaping a unified strategy

Upon arriving at Novartis, Korab took time to learn the organisation from the inside. “Anytime you join a new organisation, it’s important to spend time getting to know the teams, the culture, the way things get done,” he explains.

In parallel, he began shaping the company’s evolution of its social impact and sustainability strategy. Novartis already holds some of the strongest ESG investor ratings in the pharmaceutical sector. Its consistent position at the top of indices such as the Access to Medicine Index and Sustainalytics is viewed internally as a product of long-term commitment.

“The ratings are the by-product,” Korab says. “The real story is in the infrastructure and effort across years.”

His task has been to refine the company’s direction. “Our strategy is now fully anchored in our mission – making sure we do our part so that our science reaches more patients. We use social impact and sustainability as levers to maximise that mission.”

Sustainability at Novartis

At the centre of Korab’s role is executing Novartis’ social impact and sustainability strategy: to maximise the impact of Novartis medicines to unlock better health and to reach communities overlooked by both science and society.  

The Novartis Social Impact & Sustainability framework is split into three focus areas:

• Innovation and access to medicines 
• Protecting the planet while advancing human health 
• Advancing people and culture to achieve shared success, underpinned by ethics and human rights. 

“It takes approximately 10 to 12 years for a new drug to go from labs to patients,” Korab explains. “We want to anticipate barriers from the earliest stage, whether it’s packaging, formulation or even temperature sensitivity so that our scientific breakthroughs have the opportunity to reach most patients.”

The company’s work on global health is about addressing neglected tropical diseases and malaria in low- and middle-income countries. These conditions affect millions but attract little commercial research investment. Novartis aims to use its scientific engine for public good in these underserved areas.

The other focus within innovation and access centres on the role of partnerships to strengthen health systems, using philanthropy as a catalyst. For example, the Novartis Foundation pilots innovative models of healthcare delivery within its CARDIO4Cities initiative – uniting stakeholders across health systems, governments and communities to combat cardiovascular disease at the population level. “It’s an incredible model,” Korab says. “It brings all the players together to affect cardiovascular disease.”

The foundations of the social impact and sustainability strategy are to protect the planet and advance people and culture: Novartis has committed to an industry-leading net zero target for 2040. Within this, the toughest challenge is Scope 3 emissions: indirect emissions from suppliers, logistics and purchased goods. Embedding ethics and leading with integrity are also viewed as business fundamentals, to earn the trust of patients, partners and society.

Decarbonisation through partnerships and data

Novartis has already achieved carbon neutrality for its direct emissions, known as Scope 1 and Scope 2. The focus now is squarely on the more complex Scope 3 footprint, representing 85% of pharmaceutical sector emissions.

“This is the biggest challenge, not just for us but for the entire industry,” Korab notes. The approach has relied on supplier engagement, improved data quality and pre-competitive collaboration.

Korab highlights Novartis’ membership in the Sustainable Markets Initiative, launched by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales). The forum brings industries together to accelerate sustainable supply chain transformation.

“With suppliers, the first step is engagement: assessing the carbon footprint at the product level, then prioritising for action,” Korab says. “We also ask every supplier we work with to commit to environmental sustainability standards.”

Building better data frameworks is essential. “In some categories we still rely on spend as a proxy for emissions,” Korab reveals. “Improving that data is critical to accelerating reductions.”

Driving social impact in practice

Korab’s greatest focus is deepening the real-world reach of Novartis’ medical innovation. For him, sustainability is not achieved unless the company addresses health inequities head-on.

“Our biggest opportunity is reaching underserved populations in high-income countries,” he explains. In the US, for example, rural populations often struggle to access advanced treatments.

Novartis’ prostate cancer drug, a radiopharmaceutical, illustrates the challenge. With only a few days of shelf life, availability in remote areas requires new thinking about distribution, diagnosis and care pathways.

“We must remove barriers – from diagnosis to treatment – so patients aren’t excluded just because of geography,” Korab says.

Collaboration driving sustainability

Partnerships are central to Korab’s approach, both within healthcare and across industries. He observes that, in sustainability, competitors often become collaborators.

“There is so much opportunity to partner and a lot of energy for organisations to pick up the phone and talk through issues.”

He believes this spirit is increasing across sectors. “When it comes to environmental sustainability or social impact, there tends to be quite a bit of collaboration. Everyone sees we’re all working for the same planet.”

Recognition for leadership

Earlier this year, Novartis ranked third in the Sustainability Top 250, reflecting its leadership across medical access and environmental action.

“It felt great,” Korab admits. “I’m new, so I don’t want to claim credit. But I’m proud of the team and this organisation. It was a very well-deserved recognition.”

Novartis continues to stand out with its combination of ambitious environmental commitments and socially anchored health programmes. For Korab, this is what defines the role of sustainability in healthcare.

“Pharma companies are not heavy carbon emitters compared to some sectors,” he reflects. “Our biggest contribution is ensuring our science benefits as many people as possible, while we continue reducing our footprint.”

Advice for the next generation

For aspiring sustainability leaders, Korab emphasises communication inside the organisation.

“I always emphasise the importance of internal storytelling,” he says. “Social impact and sustainability do not exist in a silo; we have to engage the whole organisation in the vision.”

Teams are small, so influence and persuasion become essential. “You have to use influence, you have to connect the dots and you have to translate strategy into what the day-to-day worker sees as their contribution,” Korab explains. “It’s the only way to multiply impact.”

For him, sustainability leadership is about persistence and connection, not technical fixes alone. “It is really only through our collective efforts that we’ll be able to make a difference.”