COVID-19 response in the Philippines: Novartis contributions

  • Novartis is taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).
  • Novartis support focuses on protecting frontline health workers and supporting the expansion of treatment and testing capacity.

Makati City, June 25, 2020 – As the Philippines deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, Novartis Healthcare Philippines is taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).

“Our main thrust is to protect our frontline health workers and support the expansion of the country’s treatment and testing capacity,” said Jugo Tsumura, Country President & Managing Director, Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

To help expand the country’s COVID-19 testing capacity, Novartis donated PHP19.3M to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Medical Foundation for the purchase of locally-produced COVID-19 test kits.

“PGH is waging war on COVID-19. The Novartis support for COVID-19 testing is valuable intelligence in this war. PGH is the biggest COVID-19 referral hospital in the country. To date, PGH has served more than 600 COVID-19 patients and over 3,000 patients with COVID-19 related conditions,” said PGH Director and PGH Medical Foundation Inc. Board of Trustee member Dr. Gerardo Legaspi.

“The donation of Novartis is very important to us, and we are grateful to have Novartis as one of our partners in the war against COVID-19. I want to thank Novartis leadership team for making this donation possible. We look forward to our continuing partnership with Novartis,” said Dr. Carmencita Padilla, Chancellor, University of the Philippines Manila.

“The Novartis donation allows us to significantly step up our testing capacity both at the PGH and the NIH [National Institutes of Health]. To date, we have conducted 13,297 tests at the NIH which were made possible by the collective efforts of the PGH, the NIH, UP Manila and donors like Novartis who prioritize helping others during these extraordinarily trying times,” said NIH Executive Director Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz.

“Pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including the Swiss company Novartis, are working hard not only to cater for the current needs and demand of drugs, but also to share their knowledge and foster partnerships with different government entities. Swiss companies support manifold public health, Corporate Social Responsibility and charity activities to help alleviate the plight of many. Switzerland is known for its humanitarian tradition and its companies for taking their societal responsibility at heart,” said His Excellency Alain Gaschen, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Philippines.

To support the country’s COVID-19 treatment capacity, Novartis and its generics and biosimilars division Sandoz donated a substantial volume of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the Philippine Government in response to the DOH request for a potential treatment for about 1,000 hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.

Novartis has started the Ruxolitinib compassionate use program for COVID-19 patients in the Philippines. Pre-clinical and preliminary clinical evidence suggests Ruxolitinib, a well-established Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, could reduce the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation. On April 2, 2020 Novartis Global announced its plan to initiate a clinical study of Ruxolitinib in severe COVID-19 patients.

Sandoz is also donating a year's supply of medicines to the East Avenue Medical Center and other hospitals through the Philippine Red Cross, which will benefit almost 10,000 patients with infections and 6,000 patients with hypertension.

The Swiss-based company donated PHP500,000 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) to PHAPCares Foundation for the benefit of frontline health workers in key COVID-19 referral hospitals.

To support the DOH COVID-19 response in the National Capital Region, Novartis Healthcare Philippines and Sandoz Philippines donated 8,800 pairs of gloves shared equally among Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine General Hospital and Philippine Heart Center. Novartis also donated food packs to quarantined frontline healthcare workers of government hospitals, private hospitals and medical societies for five days.

To support the request for provision of PPEs to patient navigators and volunteer healthcare workers who continue to help cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, Novartis donated P88,000.00 to ICANSERVE Foundation.

The Novartis initiatives in the Philippines are part of the company’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of a global USD 20 million fund to support impacted communities around the world.

Group photo of donation.
To help expand the Philippine’s COVID-19 testing capacity, Novartis donated PHP19,370,500.00 to the PGH Medical Foundation, Inc. for the purchase of locally-developed COVID-19 test kits. Photo shows participants during the official handover of the donation (from left:) Ms. Christine Fajardo, Country Corporate Affairs Head, Novartis; His Excellency Alain Gaschen, Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines; Mr. Jugo Tsumura, Country President, Novartis; Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, Director, Philippine General Hospital and Member, Board of Trustees, PGH Medical Foundation, Inc.; Dr. Carmencita Padilla, Chancellor, University of the Philippines Manila; and Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz, Executive Director, National Institutes of Health.

Sandoz, Novartis Philippines announce donation of hydroxychloroquine to DOH

  • Novartis has committed to making a global donation of up to 130 million doses of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to support efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Sandoz Philippines, the local subsidiary of the generics and biosimilars division of Novartis, today begins delivering the donated doses of hydroxychloroquine to the Department of Health (DOH), who are organizing its distribution to hospitals.

Manila, Philippines, April 30, 2020 – Today, the Novartis group in the Philippines announced the donation of a substantial amount of hydroxychloroquine to the Department of Health (DOH) to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the country. The aim of the donation is to enable patients to access a potential treatment while also advancing clinical research in the fight against COVID-19. DOH is responsible for distributing the drug to hospitals.

The consignment of hydroxychloroquine donated by Novartis is expected to put the Philippine government in a position to roll out a national treatment protocol for all currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and collect respective clinical data. Sandoz, the generics and biosimilars division of Novartis, has started to deliver the hydroxychloroquine doses of the donation to DOH today.

The treatment protocol1 issued by the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Disease (PSMID), as endorsed by the DOH, includes hydroxychloroquine among the recommended treatments for hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19. Several clinical trials are underway to research the effect of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, a related substance, in treating COVID-19. This compound is used to treat malaria and auto-immune diseases such as lupus erythematosus and chronic polyarthritis. The product has not yet been approved in Europe for treating COVID-19 infections. The Philippine FDA responded quickly to the treatment recommendation by PSMID and DOH, fast-tracking the procedure to license Sandoz’s drug for use via donation by the Philippine DOH.

Eleanor Lopez, Country Head of Sandoz, the generics and biosimilars division of Novartis, in Philippines added: “At present, it is more important than ever that we fulfill our mission of providing primary healthcare in the Philippines. By donating this sizable quantity of hydroxychloroquine to the DOH, we are playing our part in this by enabling patients to access a potential treatment and supporting clinical research in the fight against COVID-19.”

This donation given to the DOH is part of the commitment made by Novartis to donate 130 million 200 mg doses of hydroxychloroquine globally by the end of May, subject to the condition that local regulatory authorities support the use of the drug for patients infected with COVID-19. In addition, Sandoz intends to work closely with other manufacturers to boost the production of hydroxychloroquine if required, and assist with supplying it to countries around the world.

Novartis commitment and response to COVID-19

Novartis is deeply dedicated to the global effort to combat COVID-19 and doing our part to support the stability of global healthcare systems. We announced a broad set of measures including the creation of a global fund of USD 20 million to support communities around the world impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Novartis also has committed 130 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to support pandemic response. In addition, Novartis joined two key cross-industry research initiatives, the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, coordinated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard, as well as a COVID-19 directed partnership organized by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). Novartis is separately supporting COVID-19 related clinical investigations of several Novartis medicines. To support access, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division Sandoz became the first company to commit to keeping stable prices for a basket of essential medicines that may help in the treatment of COVID-19. More information about the Novartis response to COVID-19 is available on www.novartis.com/coronavirus.

1. Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Disease (PSMID) Treatment Guidelines for COVID-19 issued on 31 March 2020, which has been endorsed by the PH Government with the issuance of Department Memorandum No. 2020-0108.

Patient Organizations

Novartis is maintaining a high level of engagement with the patient community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient organizations around the world are rising to the challenge to ensure the health and safety of their constituents. At a time when healthcare professionals and health system resources are being diverted to address the pandemic, patient organizations are stepping forward and providing crucial educational, psycho-social and health navigation support to patients and caregivers in need.

For patient organization leaders, the following resources may be useful:

Resources to Support Patient Organization Leadership

This document outlines online resources supported by Novartis or organizations we work with designed to help people as leaders, parents and individuals to be more effective. Many associates across Novartis are tapping into these tools during these stressful times, and we thought they could be of value to the leadership of patient organizations. We will continue to identify resources and share them, so please reach out to your Novartis Patient Advocacy contact with any online resources you have found of value, so that we can share them with the broader community

Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD)

The Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD) group is an independent multinational coalition. Its goal is to bring together initiatives and best practices that integrate the voice of the patient throughout the lifecycle of medicines development, thereby speeding up the creation and implementation of an effective, globally standardized framework. This website provides materials from reliable resources related to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. https://synapse.pfmd.org/blog/covid-19

Dealing with Complexity

Working with our Novartis Learning Institute, we gathered resources that you might find helpful in managing work across distributed teams and to manage the complexity you face in your communities.

To help us navigate the complexity in today’s ever-shifting landscape it is easy to fall into old patterns, but as this situation is so ambiguous and unique, we would like to encourage you to practice habits that will open doors and help you be more adaptable - taking multiple perspectives, asking different questions, and seeing more of the system. Practicing these simple habits can help all of us to become more nimble, respond with agility, and guide our organizations to thrive. At Novartis, we work closely with a group called Cultivating Leadership, led by Jennifer Garvey Berger, and wanted to share some resources that that might help you during these extraordinary times:

Remote Work

To help organizations manage remote work, LinkedIn Learning has made 16 modules public. These courses help with maximizing efficiency and productivity of remote work, manage the impact of adjusting to a new work environment, lead and manage teams remotely, and become comfortable using the productivity tools (i.e. Zoom, Skype, etc.) that allow you to more easily connect with colleagues. Please explore these offerings here: https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/productivity-tips/new-to-working-remotely--these-resources-can-help

Infection Prevention & Managing Stress

Cornerstone on Demand has created a portal full of resources for supporting infection prevention and managing stress, and they are looking at adding additional content on topics that are relevant for you. Please register here for access: https://hr.cornerstoneondemand.com/cornerstonecares/home-689GG-8719CE.h…

Awakened Mind are offering a free six month subscription of their mindfulness app. https://awakenedmind.com/workplace-wellness

Parenting

With work, school and home life combined, there may have never been a more challenging time to be a parent. For patient leaders working and parenting with children at home, these resources may be of help.

Finally here is an article that might help frame your thinking about how this focus on learning can also help healthcare providers in this challenging time.

COVID-19 response in the Philippines: Novartis and Sandoz contributions

  • Novartis Healthcare Philippines is taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).
  • Novartis support focuses on protecting frontline health workers and supporting the expansion of treatment and testing capacity.

Makati City, May 22, 2020 – As the Philippines deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, Novartis Healthcare Philippines and Sandoz Philippines are taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).

“Our main thrust is to protect our frontline health workers and support the expansion of the country’s treatment and testing capacity,” said Jugo Tsumura, President & Managing Director, Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

“Pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including the Swiss company Novartis, are working hard not only to cater for the current needs and demand of drugs, but also to share their knowledge and foster partnerships with different government entities. Swiss companies support manifold public health, Corporate Social Responsibility and charity activities to help alleviate the plight of many. Switzerland is known for its humanitarian tradition and its companies for taking their societal responsibility at heart,” said His Excellency Alain Gaschen, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Philippines.

To help expand the country’s COVID-19 testing capacity, Novartis donated PHP19.3M to the PGH Medical Foundation for the purchase of locally-produced COVID-19 test kits. To support the country’s COVID-19 treatment capacity, Novartis and its generics and biosimilars division Sandoz donated a substantial volume of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the Philippine Government in response to the DOH request for a potential treatment for about 1,000 hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.

Novartis has started the Ruxolitinib compassionate use program for COVID-19 patients in the Philippines. Pre-clinical and preliminary clinical evidence suggests Ruxolitinib, a well-established Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, could reduce the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation. Novartis Global plans to initiate a clinical study of Ruxolitinib in severe COVID-19 patients.

Sandoz is donating medicines to East Avenue Medical Center and the Philippine Red Cross, which can support close to 6,000 patients with hypertension and 10,000 patients with infections for a year.

Novartis donated PHP500,000 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) to PHAPCares Foundation for the benefit of frontline health workers in key COVID-19 referral hospitals.

To support the DOH COVID-19 response in the National Capital Region, Novartis Healthcare Philippines and Sandoz Philippines donated 8,800 pairs of gloves shared equally among Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine General Hospital and Philippine Heart Center. Novartis also donated food packs to quarantined frontline healthcare workers of government hospitals, private hospitals and medical societies for five days.

The Novartis initiatives in the Philippines are part of the company’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of a global USD 20 million fund to support impacted communities around the world.

The Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) has understandably posed mobility restrictions to Filipinos who wish to purchase medicines in retail drugstores. To help address this challenge, Novartis is providing alternative access for patients' medicines. The company has partnered with GBSL, a subsidiary of Zuellig Pharma Corp, to provide direct delivery of medicines to patients nationwide at no extra cost for patients. As part of the company's patient support program, Novartis has also partnered with MedGrocer to provide home delivery of patients' medicines.

Novartis donates PPEs and medicines to support Philippine response to COVID-19 pandemic

  • Novartis Healthcare Philippines is taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).
  • Novartis support focuses on protecting frontline health workers and supporting the expansion of treatment and testing capacity.

Makati City, May 1, 2020 – As the Philippines deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, Novartis Healthcare Philippines is taking concrete steps to help ensure sustained supply of essential life-saving medicines to patients and support the country's COVID-19 response led by the Department of Health (DOH).

“Our main thrust is to protect our frontline health workers and support the expansion of the country’s treatment and testing capacity,” said Jugo Tsumura, President & Managing Director, Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

 To support the DOH COVID-19 response in the National Capital Region, Novartis Healthcare Philippines and Sandoz Philippines donated 10,000 pairs of gloves shared equally among Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine General Hospital and Philippine Heart Center. The Swiss-based company is donating PHP500,000 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) to PHAPCares Foundation for the benefit of frontline health workers in key COVID-19 referral hospitals. Novartis also donated food packs to quarantined frontline healthcare workers of government hospitals, private hospitals and medical societies for five days.

Novartis and its generics and biosimilars division Sandoz are donating a substantial volume of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the DOH for hospitalized COVID-19 patients based on guidelines issued by the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Disease (PSMID)1.

Novartis has started the Ruxolitinib compassionate use program for COVID-19 patients in the Philippines. Pre-clinical and preliminary clinical evidence suggests Ruxolitinib , a well-established Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, could reduce the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation. On April 2, 2020 Novartis Global announced its plan to initiate a clinical study of Ruxolitinib in severe COVID-19 patients in multiple countries primarily in North America and Europe.

The Novartis initiatives in the Philippines are part of the company’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of a global USD 20 million fund to support impacted communities around the world.

1. Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. (2020, March 31). Interim Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Adult Patients with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19 Infection Version 2.1 as of 31 March 2020. https://www.psmid.org/cpg-for-covid-19-ver-2-1-as-of-march-31-2020/