Our Response to COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues within the US and around the world, ViiV Healthcare remains committed to supporting the health and safety of our people, ensuring business continuity and helping find solutions in response.

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:

Ensuring medicine supply and patient access. At this time, even with loosened restrictions on early and various quantity refills by US government and private payers, there is no impact to supply of our medicines in the US as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are continuing to closely monitor the situation and will keep you updated on any changes. We have supply chain planning in place for our products, which includes measures to secure reliable supply, such as holding strategic stock as well as working with our wholesalers, pharmacies and direct purchasers to ensure they are responding to the demand for our medicines from providers and people living with HIV.

ViiV Healthcare is sensitive to the needs of patients who struggle to afford healthcare services, including medicines. Our ViiV Connect program for patients in the 50 US states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offers various patient support programs to those who meet program eligibility criteria. To see if you’re eligible, click here or call 1-844-588-3288.

Caring for our people and communities. As states begin a slow return to business and the workplace, we are exploring similar plans for both our field- and office-based employees. If local guidelines and customer protocols allow for in-person customer interactions, our field team members may return to face-to-face meetings as early as this week. Additionally, we have plans for a phased return of office-based employees based on local regulations and site readiness. We anticipate that the first wave of limited office-based employees will return no earlier than June 1, and others will continue working remotely as the plan progresses.

Contributing to the fight against COVID-19. We are conducting some exploratory research to see if our medicines may be potential treatment options, although it is too early to speculate on any benefit. Separately, with our major shareholder, GSK, we have joined the new collaborative research effort, the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, which brings together pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions in the search for treatment options.

In addition, we recently announced the creation of the ViiV Healthcare Global HIV and COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. The £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 grants to help organizations in the HIV community address specific challenges created by the global pandemic. We also joined GSK in making a $250,000 grant to Direct Relief to help procure and distribute personal protective equipment and critical medical goods to clinics and hospitals in the US.

Separately, GSK, our major shareholder is contributing its science and expertise where it can have the most impact on the outbreak. It recently entered into an unprecedented vaccine collaboration with Sanofi to develop an adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine, and is continuing its work with the University of Queensland, Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co., Ltd. on potential vaccine development.

At ViiV Healthcare, patient focus is one of our core values, and we are proud of how our employees continue to demonstrate their commitment to people living with HIV during these challenging times. We remain vigilant in monitoring the situation as we seek to safeguard the health and well-being of our people, ensure our products available to all who need them, and continue to provide support and resources to the HIV community.

Our hearts go out to those who have been impacted by the pandemic, and we hope all of you are continuing to stay safe and well.

Sincerely,
Lynn Baxter
SVP, Head of North America, ViiV Healthcare