The COVID-19 outbreak in Europe has brought to light long-standing issues in the functioning of healthcare systems and pharmaceutical policy, and their impact on patient access to medicine. COVID-19 hit countries and communities unevenly and has been labeled the “inequality virus.” To realize the European Health Union’s goals of reducing health inequalities and protecting against threats, it is imperative that policymakers take action based on lessons learned from the pandemic.

Off-Patent Medicines Sector Lessons Learned

Robust Manufacturing & COVID-19
Off-patent medicine manufacturers were able to dramatically increase supply during the pandemic, thanks to robust manufacturing contingency plans and European Commission efforts to maintain internal market openness for medical supplies.
Uninterrupted Medicine Supply Chains
To ensure continuous access to medicines, national emergency planning should exempt medicine manufacturing and logistics from lockdowns and other control measures that disrupt the supply chain.
Cooperation to Avoid Shortages
Avoiding shortages during a crisis requires cooperation between industry and governments/regulators to share supply and demand information and grant regulatory flexibility. In pandemic recovery, coordination between the European Commission, HERA, EMA, Member States, and ECDC is vital to ensure the viability of the off-patent medicines sector and ensure access to medicine.
Equitable Supply of Medicines
European and national strategic alignment is necessary for the pharmaceutical industry to ensure equitable supply of medicines. Hoarding and other restrictions undermine our ability to supply patients in need.
Medicine Repurposing
Repurposing of medicines was essential in securing treatment options in a crisis. A fit-for-purpose regulatory and market framework is needed to enable future medicine repurposing.
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Medicines for Europe – Lessons Learned from COVID-19
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Addressing Patient Needs Post-Pandemic

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are not limited to the disease itself. For two years, overwhelmed healthcare systems needed to prioritize essential treatment for COVID patients. It is now time to address the needs of patients who suffered from delayed diagnostics, cancelled medical appointments, and postponed medical care. We urge policymakers to prioritize healthcare investment to prevent a secondary wave of mortality from undiagnosed and untreated NCD patients.

Viatris’ Response to COVID-19

Delivering Medicines

  • Viatris chartered our own aircraft to ensure a continuous supply of medicines when other airlines were grounded.
  • In response to a surge in demand for intensive care medicines, we partnered with our industry association, Medicines for Europe, to create a strategy to increase supply and meet patient needs.

Protecting our Employees

  • We have taken extra precautions to protect site personnel and operations, including implementing social distancing measures, daily health assessments and split shifts where feasible, access to on-call doctors 24/7, professional counseling, quarantine care, advisory services, home isolation kits, and a wide range of benefits and programs that are locally customized to meet the unique needs of employees.
  • We launched an Employee Wellbeing and Assistance Program (EWAP), providing professional counseling to employees and their families. We gave sessions and webinars supporting mental health and provided special health insurance coverage over and above the standard for employees, spouses and children.

Maintaining Production

  • Despite unprecedented disruptions to international trade, our robust supply chain management processes and systems enabled us to maintain customer service levels over 90% throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Because of strong relationships with our logistic suppliers and our global and diverse supply chain, we were able to pinpoint specific low stock levels across the network and prioritize shifts in supply around the world on a daily basis.