In the face of a global pandemic, Novartis has mobilized R&D capabilities, medicines, clinical trials expertise and aid, to address the Coronavirus pandemic. Novartis, through its employees in Dublin and Cork, is supporting the fight against COVID-19.
Novartis COVID-19 Response Fund will provide $40 million to support communities around the world most impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Novartis Ireland is donating €370,000 to the HSE Covid-19 Integrated National Operations Hub to distribute to areas most in need, for the purchase of PPE and equipment.
The Novartis COVID-19 Response Fund will provide $20 million to support communities around the world most impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. Novartis Ireland is donating funding for the purchase of PPE and equipment. This support is to be distributed to areas most in need, to protect healthcare staff against the continued fight versus COVID-19. In addition, Novartis Ireland is supporting the ongoing efforts by the pharma industry (BioPharmaChem Ireland) by supporting the purchase of raw materials required to manufacture a reagent used in COVID-19 testing.
In response to the nationwide appeal from St James Hospital, Novartis donated 50,000 gloves and 25,000 masks to the hospital, to protect healthcare staff against the continued fight versus COVID-19. Novartis, Dublin, has also made its car park available to staff from nearby St Vincent’s hospital.
Funding is also being distributed to help patient groups in supporting at risk individuals and groups through this difficult period.
Novartis is also undertaking several efforts to leverage our capabilities in discovery, development and scale-up manufacturing. We are collaborating with multi-stakeholder external consortia, including the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, coordinated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and MasterCard.
We are also assessing whether Novartis medicines can be repurposed to treat patients with Coronavirus infection. There is also a large-scale study to evaluate hydroxychloroquine. Novartis Ringaskiddy (Cork) will also play a role in the supply chain for a Novartis medicine, for which demand may increase during the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Audrey Derveloy, Country President of Ireland, commented: “In this time of crisis, Novartis is proud to be able to support the healthcare system and organisations who are working with at risk patient populations. As one of the leaders in the healthcare industry in Ireland, we want to practically support the healthcare service. We hope this will help those who are working tirelessly to support our communities during this critical time. It is also important to take this opportunity to thank all of our team across Novartis Ireland who continue to make medicines, support our patients and our business during these challenging times. We have employees working at our manufacturing site in Cork and many working from home across the country, and we would like to say how proud we are of all your efforts and your continued commitment.”