Novartis UK statement on Coronavirus (COVID-19) and our ways of working

As a healthcare company with a vision to build a healthier tomorrow in the UK, Novartis is committed to playing an active and responsible role in preventing the spread of Coronavirus within our community, and amongst our associates and their families.

As such, we have taken a number of measures that we believe will allow us to continue to support the NHS and those patients that depend on us, but in a way that reduces any potential spread of the virus.

Effective March 16^th, we have requested that all Novartis UK associates work from home. This includes our head office and field-based associates. For those associates in customer facing roles, we have provided guidance on how to ensure continuity in our engagement with our customers without compromising any local Coronavirus containment policies. For now, this includes suspending all visits to health care facilities including hospitals, GP surgeries and Pharmacies until further notice. Where possible, we will continue our engagements with healthcare professionals using digital technologies available to us.

Of course, it is not always feasible to work remotely, particularly for our colleagues in manufacturing. With this in mind, all Novartis sites will remain open to allow us to continue to deliver medicines to patients and to allow our teams to have access to any essential equipment they need. We want to thank all associates who will need to continue to come to work for their engagement, dedication and commitment to patients.

Our priorities in this ever-changing environment are to ensure the continued supply of medicines to patients and to protect the health and safety of our associates. We thank our customers and stakeholders for working with us to achieve these aims.

For more on our supply chain, please see our latest statement here.

March 2020 | COR20-E034