AstraZeneca PLC — Ethics Grade B-

AstraZeneca PLC receives an overall ethics grade of B- (62/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Pharmaceuticals. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 65
• privacy: 65
• consumer: 45
• environment: 75
• humanRights: 60

Documented incidents (3)

• Vaccine Data Transparency Issues (medium, 2021) — The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases criticized the company for using 'outdated information' in its COVID-19 vaccine trial reporting, undermining public trust in clinical results.
• Seroquel Off-Label Marketing (high, 2010) — AstraZeneca paid $520 million to resolve allegations that it illegally promoted the antipsychotic drug Seroquel for uses not approved by the FDA, including elderly and pediatric care.
• Vaxzevria Rare Side Effects (medium, 2024) — The company faced class-action lawsuits in the UK regarding its COVID-19 vaccine causing rare blood clotting issues (TTS), leading to the product's eventual withdrawal from European markets.

Documented good deeds

• Ambition Zero Carbon — The company accelerated its goal to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions from its global operations by 98% by 2026.

Ethical alternatives

• Gilead Sciences — Better metrics on clinical trial diversity and access to medicine indices.