In an ever more complex world increasingly characterized by macroeconomic and geopolitical tensions, we once again demonstrated our impressive resilience and returned to growth in fiscal 2024. Driven by factors such as an aging population, new technologies and climate change, we believe that the demand for scientific breakthroughs has never been greater.
We embrace change as a catalyst for innovation and growth. United behind our vision of “Sparking Discovery, Elevating Humanity”, we are committed to creating a brighter, healthier and more sustainable world by empowering science to achieve breakthroughs. Our history spanning more than 356 years, coupled with our diversified business model, puts us in an excellent position to continue to tap into attractive global markets with long-term growth potential.
By implementing our innovation-centric strategy, we will continue to strengthen our position as a leading science and technology company. Our Life Science business sector targets the expanding market for complex molecules and novel modalities, for example. In Healthcare we focus on specialty pharmaceuticals in Oncology and Neurology & Immunology, with established products such as Erbitux® and Bavencio® for cancer and Mavenclad® for multiple sclerosis. In Electronics, we benefit from the increasing demand for semiconductors, which is driven by aspects including data growth, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The ongoing development and integration of digital and data-based technologies will considerably increase our value creation and our capacity for innovation in all three business sectors. Our data and digital strategy is anchored in a clearly defined roadmap designed to continuously enhance our digital infrastructure and elevate our digital differentiation from competitors across our businesses. A recent example of this is our strategic partnership with Siemens, for which we signed a memorandum of understanding in fiscal 2024. Together, we have set the goal of driving digital transformation across our business sectors through strategic projects in the field of smart manufacturing (Smartfacturing).
At the same time, we are committed to maintaining our positive impact on society and the planet by incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance considerations into our growth ambitions. By 2030, we intend to achieve progress for more than one billion people through sustainable science and technology. Moreover, we will fully integrate sustainability into our value chains by the same year. In addition, we will achieve climate neutrality and reduce our consumption of resources by 2040.
Our strategic investments are intended to further expand our positions in high-growth areas, enabling strong long-term profitable growth and attractive cash generation. In this context, active management of our business portfolio will remain a crucial element. Recent examples include the acquisition of Mirus Bio LLC, United States, a leader in transfection reagents for cell and gene therapies, and Unity-SC, France, a provider of metrology and inspection instrumentation for the semiconductor industry. In addition, we signed an agreement to divest our Surface Solutions business unit to sharpen our focus on high-tech applications in Electronics. Merger and acquisition (M&A) measures will continue to play an essential role in optimizing our positioning for decades to come.
* The contents of this chapter or section are voluntary and therefore not audited. However, our auditor has read the text critically.