Last updated on 8 January, 2021

Situation

Since the beginning of the outbreak, our top priorities at LEO Pharma have been relentlessly dedicated to delivering on the following 3 objectives:

1. Do everything we can to safeguard the health and safety of our employees,
2. Secure an uninterrupted supply of medicine to patients around the world,
3. Protect our company and ensure its business continuity both short- and long-term.

Our contributions to the COVID-19 public health response

LEO Pharma is taking part in helping societies cope with the COVID-19 health crisis. Our contributions are guided by the needs of health authorities. Current initiatives include:

1. Employee volunteering guidelines introduced at LEO Pharma locations
2. Financial and in-kind support to emergency response operations in severely affected regions
   Examples:
• In Northern Italy, LEO Pharma has made donation to the region of Lombardy, the Italian region that bore the brunt of the COVID-19 outbreak. This donation will help the local hospitals in their fight against COVID-19.
• In Spain, LEO Pharma has donated dermatological treatments in collaboration a local organization (SEMERGEN) for their distribution in Primary Care Centers throughout Spain. The objective is to help treat dermatological complications of health workers due to extreme safety and hygiene measures such as constant hand washing, the use of disinfectant hydroalcoholic solutions and protective equipment for long hours. 
• In the Unites States, LEO Pharma Inc has made a donation to the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund (NJPRF) supporting resources to fight the medical, social, and economic impact of COVID-19 in communities across the state.

 

3. Flexible payment terms assessed on a case by case basis to help suppliers in critical need
4. Supporting public health institutions with critical assets and advancing science to find curative treatments
   Example:
• LEO Pharma is taking part in a pharma industry initiative supported by the European Commission to identify active compounds and compile a sample library for testing with the potential of reducing lead time for treatment development for COVID-19.

Employees

• The health and safety of our staff members remains one of our top priorities.
• All international business travel and attendance at medical congresses and other large events has been suspended.
• All large meetings are cancelled or has been converted to virtual meetings.
• In several countries e.g. Denmark, Italy, Spain and the US, employees whose presence on site is not critical are currently (or have been) working from home. 
• We have been maintaining the minimum workforce needed in our plants to keep manufacturing our medicines.
• Strict hygiene measures are taken to ensure safety at our sites.

Supply of our medicines

• Business continuity plans have been activated and current status is that we continue to provide an uninterrupted supply of medicines.
• We are monitoring our raw material inventory levels and taking additional measures to mitigate against interruption.
• At this point in time we do not anticipate any significant shortage of our medicines due to COVID-19.
• Patients using our products who have questions or concerns about their treatments should consult with their doctors.

Clinical trials

• LEO Pharma’s clinical trial organization is continuously reviewing the risks specific to each ongoing clinical trial taking the most current guidelines recommended by respective Health Authorities and Health Authorities and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Ethics Committees (ECs) into account.
• We are taking all measures to ensure that each clinical trial has all known risks mitigated and that our clinical teams are in tight communication with investigators to meet the rapidly shifting needs of patients and sites in the face of the current situation.
• There are currently no clinical trials that are halted due to COVID-19. However, some trial activities and patient visits may in some countries be affected due to local restrictions.
• Patients participating in a LEO Pharma clinical trial, who might have questions or concerns during this situation, are strongly advised to take contact to the responsible medicinal personnel at the hospital/clinic for guidance and instructions.  

Business impact

• Current status is that LEO Pharma continues to provide an uninterrupted supply of medicines for patients around the world.
• LEO Pharma is doing its utmost to limit the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and we are in close dialogue with our external partners in order to ensure continuity in all critical functions (e.g. logistics services, sales, manufacturing and clinical trials).
• Despite our best efforts to limit the overall impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, we also have to acknowledge that we are in force majeure situation which has the potential of disrupting our daily operations.