Novartis has announced a not-for-profit portfolio of 15 generic over-the-counter medicines for symptomatic treatment of COVID-19. The initiative aims to help patients in low-income and lower-middle-class countries access affordable medicines to help combat symptoms before they lead to more serious complications.
Based on clinical relevance and availability, the portfolio includes 15 medicines from Novartis’ Sandoz division for gastro-intestinal illness, acute respiratory symptoms, pneumonia and septic shock, and will be made available to governments, non-governmental organisations and other institutional consumers in excess of 79 eligible countries.
These countries will have the flexibility to select the medicines in the portfolio that meet their particular healthcare needs. Novartis believes that early access to such medicines will help to manage COVID-19 symptoms and prevent a healthcare system overload.
the portfolio includes 15 medicines from Novartis’ Sandoz division… and will be made available to governments, non-governmental organisations and other institutional consumers in excess of 79 eligible countries
Dr Lutz Hegemann, Chief Operating Officer for Global Health at Novartis, said “Access to medicine can be a challenge for patients in low- and lower-middle-income countries and the situation has worsened during COVID-19. With our COVID-19 portfolio, we wish to help address the additional healthcare demands of the pandemic in the countries we are targeting.”
As well as this, Novartis has committed US$40 million to support communities around the world impacted by the pandemic and has been active in two cross-industry research initiatives.
