Novartis Sets Up $20 Million COVID-19 Response Fund

By Dan Anderson ● Mar 19, 2020
  • Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced it has launched a $20 million response fund to combat the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced it has launched a $20 million response fund for supporting communities around the world that have been impacted by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The Novartis COVID-19 response fund is going to provide $20 million in grants for supporting public health initiatives in order to help communities with managing the challenges caused by the pandemic.

While the COVID-19 outbreak is spreading around the world, Novartis established a fast-track review process in order to support quick approval and disbursement of grants worth up to $1 million. And the company also outlined potential initiatives that would qualify for financial grants. This includes initiatives focused on improving local and national healthcare infrastructure, establishing digital platforms for COVID-19 related data collection,  and remote delivery of healthcare and effective dissemination of public health information.

Novartis will also look to provide grants for initiatives focused on creating new or enhancing new community health programs specific to the pandemic response. And along with the response fund, Novartis has also entered into collaborative research efforts such as the COVID-19 therapeutics accelerator, which was recently launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard. Plus Novartis also collaborated on a partnership organized by the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

And Novartis will also donate several compounds in its libraries considered suitable for in-vitro antiviral testing and is evaluating its existing products to see if they could be effective against the novel coronavirus disease.