Novartis Continues Support for COVID-19 Treatment

Novartis continues its support in Turkey for COVID-19 treatment. Novartis Turkey announced that it will donate 400,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine drug produced in the USA and TRY 1.7 million in cash to the T.C. Ministry of Health as part of efforts to combat COVID-19. To prevent the spread of the outbreak and support public health initiatives, Novartis produced hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) drug in the USA, which is used as an alternative in the treatment of COVID-19 cases. It announced that it will donate 400,000 doses to the T.C. Ministry of Health as an initial batch. At the same time, Novartis announced it will provide TRY 1.7 million in support for the needs of hospitals and medical personnel fighting the COVID-19 outbreak under the leadership of the T.C. Ministry of Health.   Dr. Altan Demirdere, Novartis Group Turkey Chairman, stated: "We face a public health crisis that requires broad cooperation in every area—states, society and business. As Novartis, we have been a leading pharmaceutical company through initiatives, drug donations and contributions in combating the coronavirus outbreak in more than 140 countries, including Turkey, and we will continue our drug assistance and other donations in line with needs that may emerge in the coming period."

"We continue to meet the pharmaceutical needs of more than 100 countries"

Demirdere continued: "Our employees, including our field teams, have been working from home since mid-March. We provide all material and moral support to maintain the health and morale of themselves and their families. However, production at our 3 pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in our country continues uninterruptedly with the protective measures taken. In this way, we continue to meet the pharmaceutical needs of our country and more than 100 countries to which we export."  

Novartis undertakes significant R&D collaborations globally against COVID-19

Supporting an initiative called COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator coordinated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard against the coronavirus outbreak, Novartis simultaneously contributes to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations with various components. These cross-sector collaborations bring together numerous pharmaceutical companies and expert academic institutions to conduct coordinated research. Novartis is also conducting R&D work to examine whether its existing products may have any benefit against the outbreak beyond their approved indications.