Novozymes’ Response to COVID-19

Novozymes

When the novel coronavirus started spreading globally, Novozymes immediately set out to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with the difficult situation. Ensuring the safety of the company’s workforce was at the forefront of this response strategy and, as an example, Novozymes moved very early to protect its employees by enabling them to work from home. The company also quickly limited business travel and started offering useful tools and resources to help employees deal with the fear and loneliness sparked by the unprecedented situation.

“COVID-19 is an awful experience for everyone, but that said it is also an opportunity to think outside the box and discover how we can work together in new ways – and ultimately better reach societies with the technology they need,” says Jeppe Glahn, Novozymes’ Vice President of Global Communications & Brand.

Already in January, the company activated its Global Crisis Response Team to work dedicatedly with the consequences of the pandemic. As the COVID-19 crisis continued to develop, Novozymes also formed Regional Crisis Response Teams in order to more effectively tackle the effects of the ever-evolving situation.

Under overall guidance from the global team, the Regional Crisis Response Teams handled the pandemic according to local circumstances and dynamics. This decentralized, more hands-off-like approach proved to be highly effective.

Novozymes also worked hard to explore ways to help others, including healthcare workers and communities in need. For example, as many health centers in Denmark faced test plate shortages, Novozymes provided guidance, from its biotech toolbox, to local hospitals on how to adequately wash and reuse test plates for COVID-19 – instead of throwing these away after a single use.

Novozymes is also helping communities through the production of hand sanitizer – which is in short supply in many countries around the world. The company is involved in the production of ethanol, an alcohol key to hand sanitizer, and is helping procure this ingredient for producers.

“As COVID-19 continues to unfold, Novozymes is not focused on implementing necessarily the easiest solutions but, rather, implementing more sustainable change in the organization that we know will not have a long-term negative imprint,” says Jeppe Glahn. “As so many other organizations, we are very likely to move to much more agility, including by working from home. However, we want to do this right and ensure we have thought through how such a fundamental shift affects employees’ well-being, while ensuring that everyone still has a strong feeling of belonging to a very purpose-driven organization.”

To learn more about how Novozymes is responding to the COVID-19 crisis, click here.

Bayer Contributes Medicine, Supplies, Knowledge and Financial Support to the Global Fight against COVID-19

Bayer

The coronavirus presents the world with major challenges. Bayer is active in the areas of health and nutrition and has been working to provide substantial help in overcoming the crisis with their products and expertise.

Bayer has made significant contributions to  the fight against COVID-19 by donating medicines, medical supplies, knowledge and financial aid. “Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary levels of support, and we will deliver,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG. “You can count on each and every one of us at Bayer. Guided by our purpose – Science for a better life – we will do whatever it takes to help serve the world’s health and nutritional needs both during and after this crisis.”

Bayer is focusing on three areas to assist in during this crisis:

Employees’ health:

• The safety and health of Bayer’s employees is the top priority. As the coronavirus presents a serious risk,  the company has taken the necessary steps to limit its spread.

• Bayer is frequently updating  its employees on the latest developments.  The enterprise has posted advice on what everyone can do to prevent the virus from spreading on their intranet.

• All employees can work from home until further notice, if their duties allow.

• Bayer will assess on a case-by-case basis whether Bayer employed healthcare professionals who wish to volunteer in their communities to help fight the pandemic can temporarily be released from work while the company continues to pay their wages.

Maintaining the supply of their products:

• Bayer is working at full steam to ensure business continuity so that it can provide hospitals, doctors, patients, consumers and farmers with the products they urgently need at this time.

• Bayer has comprehensive emergency response plans prepared for all its sites which will be implemented as necessary to ensure that their facilities continue to operate safely and effectively.

Bayer is providing governments, health authorities and municipalities with urgently needed medicines, medical supplies, expertise and financial assistance:

• Bayer is working with other pharmaceutical companies, institutions and universities to search for a new active substance to treat COVID-19.  Bayer is providing access to its large substance library and conducting screening work to find a potential active ingredient as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutic Accelerator Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is contributing to the search for an active substance to treat COVID-19 as part of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).

• Bayer has made several large donations to hardest hit countries.  Bayer has donated medicines and additional financial aid worth a total of approximately  1.5 million euros to support the population affected by the outbreak of the novel virus in China.  The company has donated 1 million euros to an aid fund in Italy that will be used to buy urgently needed supplies for intensive care units and protective equipment. Additionally, Bayer has donated €800,000 to the national health system in Spain for the purchase of  needed medical equipment and hospital beds, and donated 2 million euros to help fight Covid-19 in France and Brazil.

• In response to new data from initial research conducted in China that shows potential for the use of Resochin in treating  COVID-19 patients, Bayer has donated 3 million tablets of the drug to the U.S. Government, 1 million chloroquine tablets to Italy, and 8 million tablets of chloroquine to the German government.

• Bayer Consumer Health is donating 1 million Health and Wellness Products including, Aleve, Alka-Seltzer Plus, Bayer Aspirin, Claritin, Flintstones and One-A-Day Vitamins to support the health of underserved communities. Bayer will work with non-profit organizations, including Direct Relief and Feeding America, who have direct interactions with Americans who have limited access or financial means to secure health and wellness products during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Bayer employees in Missouri are making face masks with 3D printers to be donated to local hospitals.

• Bayer is in the process of offering PCR testing hardware from its inventory to hospitals and is also planning to repurpose some of their R&D sites to offer high volumes of PCR testing in its laboratories.

• Bayer has also started to produce disinfectant agents at large scale in select R&D sites.

For more information about Bayer’s initiatives please find their Corona Ticker here.