Update on ViiV’s response to COVID-19

Our response to COVID-19

ViiV Healthcare’s mission is to leave no person living with HIV behind and in these uncertain times we remain absolutely committed to ensuring that we deliver on it.  As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation continues to evolve rapidly, we want to reassure everyone that the safety and well-being of people living with HIV, our employees, our customers and our partners remains ViiV Healthcare’s top priority. 

We have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact. We remain committed to balancing our responsibilities and are prioritising three areas:

• our commitment to supporting the health and safety of our employees, people living with HIV, our customers and partners;
• protecting our ability to manufacture and supply medicines
• and contributing to the global efforts to contain the virus

Consistent with our values and role as the only global healthcare company solely focused on HIV, we will continue to make decisions informed by the latest science and in consultation with leading health authorities.

In-line with these principles, we have implemented a variety of measures to help prevent spread of disease and minimise disruption to our operations.

• Ensuring medicine supply and patient access.

Our ViiV Healthcare manufacturing and supply teams are fully integrated with our GSK Supply Chain partners. In partnership with GSK, we have supply chain planning in place for our medically critical HIV medicines to ensure we maintain reliable supply. At this time, we have adequate stock in place, and we will continue to review our plans to ensure supply is maintained at optimal levels and locations. In addition, our teams are empowered to investigate alternate supply routes to prevent delays or blockages when appropriate.

• Caring for our people and communities.

Our top priority is the welfare of people living with HIV, our employees, our customers, and our partners. Our teams around the world are working closely with our GSK partners to protect the well-being of our employees and the communities in which we operate. We have taken temporary measures to help reduce the risk of infection including suspending all non-essential business travel, supporting working remotely where possible and limiting visitors to our sites. In many countries, in line with local guidance, we have also directed our field teams to suspend all face-to-face interactions and refrain from visits to clinical offices, healthcare centres and other customer offices. Virtual interactions will be implemented to ensure we continue to provide support and ensure adequate supply and access to resources and our medicines. 

We are also continually evaluating and responding to the impact COVID-19 is having on the planning and conduct of clinical trials. Our priority is the safety and well-being of those who support and participate in our trials and our employees and collaborators conducting clinical trials. As such, we are implementing proactive measures to protect the safety of study participants, staff at our clinical trial sites and our employees while ensuring regulatory compliance and the scientific integrity of our clinical trials.

• Contributing to the fight against COVID-19.

As the only company 100% dedicated to addressing the challenges of the HIV, ViiV Healthcare has been actively exploring ways we can use our scientific, medical and community expertise during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the HIV community and those who work within it. To contribute to finding solutions, we have created the ViiV Healthcare Global HIV and COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. This £3 million fund will make available critical financial resources for research projects to study the medical and scientific impact COVID-19 is having on people living with HIV and community-based grants to help address specific challenges to the HIV community created by the global pandemic.

We are also proud of everything our majority shareholder, GSK is doing to contribute to solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the research and production of candidate COVID-19 vaccines and the groundbreaking collaboration recently announced between GSK and Sanofi, bringing together two of the world’s largest vaccine companies to fight COVID-19. Along with GSK, we are also involved in a number of partnerships and initiatives to respond to COVID -19 and are working together to conduct screening and research into new medicines as well as helping frontline health workers and offering expertise where we can.