SESAMm et le Crédit Mutuel Arkéa renouvellent leur collaboration pour le suivi des risques ESG.

Following the success of SESAMm’s AI-Powered Deal Screening Reports, we’re expanding our due diligence suite with a new addition: the AI-Powered Legal Risk Report. Built for private equity, M&A, and legal teams, it delivers a rapid, data-driven view of a company’s litigation, regulatory, reputational exposure and all public compliance documentation and disclosures, helping professionals identify red flags early and make faster, more informed decisions.

Accelerating Legal Due Diligence

In private equity transactions, time is limited but the stakes are high. Traditional legal research can take weeks of reviewing court filings, disclosures, and media coverage. SESAMm’s Legal Risk Report automates this process, scanning millions of documents to surface potential risks in less than an hour.

Each report is generated automatically in less than 15 minutes and backed by verifiable sources, giving legal and compliance teams the transparency they need to validate findings and support defensible due diligence.

The Legal Risk Report helps professionals accelerate and strengthen their assessments at every stage of a transaction:

• Reduce blind spots: Uncover litigation, compliance, or reputational issues that manual research might miss.
• Strengthen documentation: Support client memos and audit findings with verifiable, AI-extracted evidence.
• Reduce costs and time: Cut research hours while maintaining defensible, high-quality standards.

SESAMm’s technology is trusted by leading financial institutions to enhance their understanding of ESG, reputational, and regulatory risks. The new Legal Risk Report builds on this foundation, extending SESAMm’s AI capabilities to help law firms, compliance officers, and corporate legal teams uncover litigation and reputational exposures with speed and transparency.

A Growing Suite of AI Reports

These new Legal Risk reports are the latest addition to SESAMm’s expanding portfolio of AI-generated reports. Other reports include ESG assessments, supply chain screening, secondaries screening, and deal screening.

By combining AI-powered text analysis with structured risk categorization, SESAMm enables professionals to go from question to insight  - and from risk to response - faster than ever.

As we commemorate Earth Day this year, it's important to confront our planet's harsh realities. Despite the numerous efforts of scientists, activists, and the tech-savvy younger generation, the ecological crisis deepens, underscored by persistent natural resource deterioration and escalating climate challenges. Today, we are driven more than ever to harness innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to advance environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives and attain sustainability for a better future.

Learn “How Organizations Are Using NLP To Detect Greenwashing.”

Deteriorating Natural Resources

Over the past decades, our natural reserves have alarmingly diminished. By March 2024, the Earth’s average surface temperature has increased to approximately 54.9°F (12.7°C), a seemingly minor increase that masks significant polar ice melt and accelerated climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions have increased to 37.4 billion metric tons in 2023. According to the United Nations, this is caused by burning fossil fuels, industrialization, food production, over-consumption, and manufacturing.

The loss of biodiversity is growing so fast that we now have around 44,000 species extinct due to climate change, drought, and floods. For example, plastic waste is considered the main contributor to ocean acidification, along with oil and toxins dispensed in the ocean by transportation and shipping companies. Moreover, mass production and mass consumption of food, fast fashion, furniture, and more are, along with urbanism, major factors leading to deforestation and natural resource depletion.

Human Concerns and Environmental Anxiety

These issues not only affect nature but also human well-being. A recent study shows that younger generations face a new form of anxiety called environmental anxiety. It results from their fear of where this crisis leads them and the unclear and ambiguous future. For example, we'll likely suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050, which might produce diseases and epidemics. At this rate, the weather will become hotter, damaging nature and causing massive wildfires. As a result, some areas might become inhabitable, causing mass migration and immigration, resulting in overpopulated cities.

Leveraging AI and ESG for a Sustainable Future

Innovative technologies such as AI are revolutionizing our approach to sustainability. AI tools analyze large amounts of data to monitor ESG metrics effectively, helping organizations to make informed decisions that align with sustainability goals. These technologies facilitate smarter resource management, reduce waste through predictive analytics, and improve energy efficiency. By integrating AI with ESG initiatives, businesses can enhance their operational efficiency and contribute significantly to environmental conservation.

Learn “How Successful Investors Are Using AI to Get ESG Data: A Quick Guide.”

Hope for Change

Despite these daunting challenges, there is room for optimism. From awareness campaigns to employing technology for recycling and reusing resources to building robotic animals to prevent animal captivity, researchers and organizations are doing their best to limit environmental damage. Governments are altering laws and regulations and signing treaties in partnership with active associations and organizations, which are joining efforts to improve life on Earth. Emerging businesses strive to leave an environmental and social footprint by integrating the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) within their corporate culture.

Conclusion

In sum, if we, as a whole, take proper action, the current climate threat could diminish within the next few decades. Helping us get there are more affordable means for renewable energy generation and organic produce and public awareness. We're all capable of making a difference through funding organizations, monitoring our waste and consumption, or participating in local community actions and initiatives. Also, we can learn more about how to help protect wildlife. But NOW is the time to take action to guarantee a better future for us and future generations.

Happy Earth Day!

There’s no denying that ESG risk exposure in the pharmaceutical industry is high. This stems from the intense regulatory oversight, complex global operations, and the sector’s direct impact on public health. Governance issues represent the most persistent challenge, with leading companies repeatedly facing bribery and corruption cases, antitrust and excessive pricing investigations, misleading marketing practices, patent disputes, and data integrity concerns, often resulting in significant fines, large settlements, and prolonged legal scrutiny across jurisdictions.

Social risks are closely tied to product safety and workforce management, as evidenced by recurring drug recalls, regulatory suspensions, and litigations linked to adverse patient outcomes, alongside layoffs, labor disputes, and workplace safety concerns. Environmental risks, while comparatively less frequent, increasingly center on credibility and compliance, including sustainability reporting weaknesses, greenwashing allegations, and operational environmental violations.

What are the most persistent ESG challenges in the pharmaceutical industry? Read on to find out.

GlaxoSmithKline: Legal Battles and Social Accountability

While taking a deeper look at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), we found that the company has a very high Controversy Exposure Score (CES) of 88/100. This elevated score reflects a sustained pattern of governance and social controversies rather than isolated incidents.
On the governance side, GSK has repeatedly faced major legal and regulatory actions, including a $2.2 billion settlement linked to Zantac, a $235 million patent award upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and multiple fines for misleading marketing, anticompetitive behavior, and bribery. Several of these events are flagged as UN Global Compact (UNGC) violations, particularly under principles related to anti-corruption, labor rights, and ethical business conduct, while others remain under UNGC watchlist classification.

Social risks further expose GSK, including recurring product recalls and regulatory suspensions tied to contamination, dosing, and packaging defects, as well as labor disputes, strikes, and large-scale layoffs across Europe and the United States. Together, the CES score and UNGC screening highlight persistent governance weaknesses and social risk drivers that continue to shape GSK’s overall risk profile.

Key Controversies:

• GSK workers to strike after rejecting pay offer at pharmaceutical giant
• Pharmaceuticals giant GSK aims to cut 720 jobs in Wallonia
• GSK told to pay up for experiments in Mother and Baby homes at meeting of Sligo County Council
• Pharmaceuticals giant GSK to pay $2.2bn to settle Zantac lawsuits
• Judge: GlaxoSmithKline Can Be Held Liable for Fatal Injuries Suffered From Generic Equivalent of Lamictal

Novartis: Governance and Sustainability Concerns

Similar to GSK, Novartis shows very high controversy exposure, with a CES of 84/100, reflecting sustained ESG headwinds rather than isolated events. Governance risks are the primary driver of this elevated score, with Novartis facing repeated fraud and bribery allegations, competition and price-fixing investigations, patent disputes, and data integrity concerns across multiple jurisdictions. These issues have resulted in significant financial consequences, including nearly $1 billion in U.S. settlements related to improper physician incentives, $345 million to resolve foreign corruption cases, a €444 million antitrust fine in Europe, and several high-value patent dispute settlements.

A number of these controversies are flagged under UNGC screening, primarily classified as Watchlist events, particularly in relation to anti-corruption, ethical conduct, and legal compliance. Environmental risks also contribute to Novartis’ exposure, following greenwashing allegations and scrutiny over the credibility of its net-zero commitments. On the social front, large-scale workforce reductions, protests, strikes, and voluntary product recalls linked to safety oversight have further intensified the company’s overall risk profile.

Key Controversies:

• Novartis Case Closes in US with Deal Excluding Greek Bribe Allegations
• Novartis pays close to $1 billion to settle suit over doctors' bribes
• Belgium Authority imposes a EUR 2.78 million fine on Novartis
• Novartis used manipulated data in winning Zolgensma approval, FDA says
• Greenwashing: Accusations against Novartis and Nestlé

Roche: Facing the Spotlight on Governance and Ethics

While lower than some of its peers, Roche shows a high level of controversy exposure, with a CES of 64/100. This score still reflects recurring ESG controversies across governance, social, and operational dimensions. Governance-related risks are the main contributors, with Roche involved in multiple lawsuits linked to bribery allegations, antitrust and excessive pricing practices, patent disputes, and marketing misconduct, including a €444 million antitrust fine in Europe.

Several of these events are captured under the UNGC screening, predominantly classified as Watchlist cases, particularly in relation to anti-corruption, competition practices, and governance standards. Environmental risks have also emerged, with the Ethos Foundation publicly challenging Roche’s sustainability reporting and executive remuneration practices, and its subsidiary Genentech was fined $158k for hazardous materials violations. On the social front, Roche has faced drug recalls tied to safety deficiencies, large-scale global layoffs, reported employee exposure to hazardous substances, and legal rulings related to workplace discrimination, all contributing to its overall ESG risk profile.

Key Controversies:

• Emails and Bribery Samples Offered by Roche Drug Company to Authorities
• Les laboratoires Novartis, Roche et Genentech condamnées à 444 M€ d’amende
• Roche settles US patent lawsuit against Biogen over blockbuster arthritis drug
• The Ethos Foundation raises its voice against Roche
• Roche Reports Employee Exposure to Ethylene Oxide Due to Packaging Issues

Conclusion

Across GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Roche, ESG risk in the pharmaceutical sector is clearly structural. Governance controversies remain the most persistent and financially material, while social risks tied to product safety and workforce practices continue to drive litigation and reputational pressure. Environmental issues, though less frequent, increasingly raise questions around credibility and compliance.

Together, these cases highlight the need for continuous, forward-looking risk monitoring in a sector where regulatory scrutiny, public trust, and long-term value are tightly connected.

Reach out to SESAMm

TextReveal’s web data analysis of over five million public and private companies is essential for keeping tabs on ESG investment risks. To learn more about how you can analyze web data or to request a demo, reach out to one of our representatives.