Privacy Notice
This privacy notice explains how Ascend GmbH (“we”, “our”, “us”) collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information. It also tells you about your data protection rights and how to contact us if you have questions or concerns.
This Privacy Notice applies to personal information collected and processed by Ascend GmbH in connection with its website, products, services, customer interactions, queries, complaints, and product safety activities.
Ascend GmbH is a Germany-based subsidiary of Alkem Laboratories Limited, India.
- Contact details
- What information we collect, use, and why
- Your data protection rights
- Lawful bases
- Where we get personal information from
- How long we keep information
- Who we share information with
- Sharing information outside Germany/EEA
- How to complain
1. Contact Details
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or your personal information, you can contact us at:
Email: privacy@ascend-de.eu
Postal Address:
Ascend GmbH
Sebastian-Kneipp-Straße 41
60439 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
2. What Information We Collect, Use, and Why
A. To Provide Services and Goods (including delivery)
We may collect and use:
- Name
- Contact Number
- Email Address
- Delivery/Billing Address
- Employer Name, where relevant
Purpose: To process and deliver customer orders, manage payments, and communicate regarding orders, deliveries, or related services.
B. To Handle Queries, Complaints, Claims or Product Quality Complaints
We may collect and use:
- Name
- Contact Number
- Email Address
- Complaint Details
Purpose: To manage and respond to queries, complaints, claims, or product-quality concerns raised by customers.
C. For Adverse Drug Reaction or Product Quality Complaints
We may collect and use special category personal data where necessary to investigate, assess, document, or report an adverse event or reaction, including:
- Patient initials
- Age, Weight, Height, Date of Birth, Sex
- Description of the Adverse Event
- Medical History
- Dates of Reaction and Outcome of the Event
- Laboratory Test Details
- Reason for the Drug’s Use
- Reaction/Reappearance
- Dosage and Self-Medication Details
Purpose: To comply with pharmacovigilance, product safety, and other applicable legal and regulatory reporting obligations.
Where special category personal data is processed, we will do so only where permitted by applicable data protection law and where an appropriate condition for processing such data applies.
3. Your Data Protection Rights
Under applicable German and EU data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (“BDSG”), you may have certain rights in relation to your personal information.
Which rights apply, and the extent to which they apply, may depend on the lawful basis for processing and applicable legal exemptions.
A. Your right of access
You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You may also request information about how we process your personal information, including information about the purposes of processing, the categories of personal information concerned, and where applicable, the recipients or categories of recipients to whom your personal information has been disclosed.
There are certain legal exemptions which may mean that you do not receive all the information you request.
B. Your right to rectification
You have the right to ask us to correct personal information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
C. Your right to erasure
You may have the right to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances, including where the personal information is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or where processing is unlawful.
This right is subject to applicable legal exceptions, including circumstances where we are required to retain information by law or where information is required for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.
D. Your right to restriction of processing
You may have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
E. Your right to object to processing
You may have the right to object to the processing of your personal information where the applicable legal requirements are met, including where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis for processing.
F. Your right to data portability
Where applicable, you may have the right to receive certain personal information that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or to request that we transmit that information to another organisation.
G. Your right to withdraw consent
Where we rely on your consent as the lawful basis for processing your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
If you make a request to exercise your data protection rights, we will respond without undue delay and, in principle, within one month of receiving your request, subject to applicable legal requirements and permitted extensions.
To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details provided at the beginning of this Privacy Notice.
4. Lawful Bases for the Collection and Use of Your Data
We process personal information only where permitted under applicable data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases under the GDPR and applicable German data protection law.
A. Contractual Obligation
When this applies:
We rely on contractual necessity when processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Purpose:
To process and deliver customer orders, manage payments, and communicate with customers about their purchases, deliveries, or related logistics.
Why it is necessary:
Processing this information allows us to accept and fulfil orders, deliver goods, issue invoices, and maintain communications necessary for order completion.
Example activities:
- Confirming and processing your order
- Coordinating delivery or pickup
- Issuing invoices and receipts
- Providing updates on delivery status
B. Legal Obligation
When this applies:
We rely on legal obligation when processing is necessary to comply with laws and regulations applicable to us.
Purpose:
To process, investigate, document, retain, and report adverse drug reactions and product safety information in accordance with applicable pharmacovigilance and product safety requirements.
Why it is necessary:
Pharmaceutical companies may be required by law to collect, investigate, assess, and report adverse events and product safety information to relevant regulatory authorities. These requirements are intended to protect patient safety and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Example activities:
- Recording and evaluating adverse drug reaction complaints
- Investigating product safety concerns
- Forwarding relevant information to our Pharmacovigilance Department
- Reporting relevant information to regulatory authorities
- Maintaining complaint and pharmacovigilance records for compliance and audit purposes
C. Legitimate Interests
When this applies:
We may rely on legitimate interests where processing is necessary for our legitimate business and operational activities, provided that these interests are not overridden by your interests, rights, or freedoms.
Purpose:
To manage and respond to operational, customer-service, delivery-related, or product-quality complaints and queries that do not fall under pharmacovigilance or other mandatory reporting obligations.
Why it is necessary:
Processing this information enables us to:
- Investigate product-quality or delivery-related concerns;
- Respond to customer queries;
- Resolve complaints and issues promptly;
- Maintain appropriate customer-service standards; and
- Protect and improve the quality of our services and products.
Our legitimate interests include:
- Ensuring effective communication with customers who contact us;
- Resolving product or delivery issues efficiently;
- Maintaining customer trust and service quality;
- Managing our business operations; and
- Protecting our legal rights and interests.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess whether our interests are balanced against the rights and freedoms of individuals.
D. Consent
Where required by applicable law, we may process personal information based on your consent.
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
5. Where We Get Personal Information From
We may collect personal information directly from you, such as when you:
- Place an order;
- Complete a form;
- Contact us by phone or email;
- Submit a query or complaint;
- Report a product-quality concern or adverse drug reaction; or
- Otherwise interact with our services or website.
We may also receive personal information from third parties where permitted by law, including:
- Healthcare professionals;
- Business partners and customers;
- Service providers;
- Distributors or other parties involved in the supply of our products;
- Regulatory authorities and government bodies; and
- Other persons or organisations where this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice or where permitted or required by law.
Where personal information is provided to us by another person on your behalf, that person should ensure that they are permitted to provide the information and that you have been informed where required by applicable law.
6. How Long We Keep Information
We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and processed.
We may retain personal information for longer where this is necessary to:
- Comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements;
- Meet pharmacovigilance and product-safety retention obligations;
- Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
- Maintain appropriate business and audit records; or
- Comply with other statutory retention requirements.
The applicable retention period will depend on the nature of the information and the purpose for which it is processed.
Once personal information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or, where appropriate, anonymised or de-identified.
7. Who We Share Information With
We only share personal information with others where permitted or required by applicable law.
When we share personal information with others, we put appropriate contractual arrangements and security measures in place to protect the personal information shared and to comply with our data protection, confidentiality, and security obligations.
We may share your personal information with third parties in the following circumstances:
Our affiliated group companies
We may share your personal information with affiliated companies within the Alkem Laboratories group for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, where permitted by applicable law and where we have an appropriate lawful basis.
Service providers (including data processors)
We may disclose your personal information to appointed third-party service providers that process personal information on our behalf, where necessary to provide services to us or to support the purposes described in this Privacy Notice.
These service providers may include providers supporting areas such as:
- Delivery and logistics;
- Information technology and hosting;
- Customer support;
- Payment processing;
- Pharmacovigilance and product safety;
- Professional and legal services; and
- Other business and administrative functions.
Where required by applicable law, we enter into appropriate contractual arrangements with our service providers to protect personal information.
Regulatory, authority and other third-party disclosures
We may disclose your personal information to law enforcement agencies, courts, police, regulators, government authorities, healthcare authorities, or other third parties where we believe this is necessary:
- To comply with a legal or regulatory obligation;
- To protect our rights or the rights of another person;
- To investigate or prevent suspected unlawful activity;
- To establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
- To comply with pharmacovigilance or product-safety requirements; or
- Where otherwise permitted or required by applicable law.
8. Sharing Information Outside Germany/EEA
Where necessary, we may transfer personal information outside Germany or the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including to companies within the Alkem group or to service providers located in other countries.
Where personal information is transferred outside the EEA, we will comply with the applicable requirements of the GDPR and ensure that an appropriate transfer mechanism and safeguards are in place.
Ascend may transfer relevant personal information to its parent company, Alkem Laboratories Limited, located in India, for purposes such as group administration, pharmacovigilance, product safety, customer support, and other legitimate business or regulatory purposes, where permitted by applicable law.
Where required, appropriate safeguards may include the use of the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or another legally recognised transfer mechanism.
For further information or to obtain a copy of the relevant transfer safeguard for a particular transfer, please contact us using the contact details provided in this Privacy Notice.
9. How to Complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can first make a complaint to us using the contact details at the beginning of this Privacy Notice.
If you remain unhappy with how we have used your personal information after raising a complaint with us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority.
You may contact the competent data protection authority in your country of residence, place of work, or where you believe the alleged infringement occurred.
For Germany, the competent supervisory authority may depend on the location and circumstances of the processing. You may also contact the relevant German data protection supervisory authority for further information about your rights and how to make a complaint.
Last Updated
Last updated: 01.09.2026.