Home health remedies AbbVie, Pfizer, Novartis and more pledge millions in COVID-19 disaster relief

AbbVie, Pfizer, Novartis and more pledge millions in COVID-19 disaster relief

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Pfizer, AbbVie, Novartis and other pharma companies are pledging millions in COVID-19 relief funds to help healthcare workers, patients and communities. 

Monday, Pfizer announced $40 million in both cash and grants for medical and community needs in the U.S. and around the world. In the U.S., emergency relief funds will go to government public health organizations and nonprofit community health organizations, while grants will be awarded to community health clinics for immediate and long-term needs of healthcare workers involved the COVID-19 response. Pfizer, along with Eli Lilly and Merck, previously announced a program to allow employees with medical and lab expertise to volunteer with local healthcare systems.

Last week, AbbVie pledged $35 million in a COVID-19 relief package—its largest disaster donation to date—and encouraged other companies follow suit.

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Working through established partners, AbbVie’s contribution to International Medical Corps will build 20 field hospitals to help with surge capacity at overburdened hospitals in cities across the U.S. including Boston, Chicago, New York and New Orleans. It will also fund Feeding America’s effort to ramp up food assistance and delivery to underserved groups, including seniors, around the country. In Europe, the AbbVie donation will be spent on providing personal protective equipment (PPE), oxygen concentrators and ventilators in the hardest-hit European countries.

RELATED: Bayer donates millions of tablets of chloroquine to help in COVID-19 fight

“We’re hopeful that because of the scale of the contribution that we serve as an example for other donors contemplating what they should do and how they should get involved in the response because the needs are so significant and they’re growing by the hour. We’d really like to see more of our peers across industries come to the table with commitments of this size or bigger,” Melissa Walsh, vice president of corporate responsibility and global philanthropy at AbbVie, said.

AbbVie included a flexible $5 million fund for applications for grants of up to $1 million each from any organization helping people affected by the pandemic. Just a few hours after posting the application online, AbbVie had more than a dozen requests, Walsh said.

With pharma companies such as Pfizer, AbbVie and others (see below) donating money to support patients and healthcare professionals—as well as medicine, supplies and resources—the COVID-19 crisis represents an opportunity to turn around the dismal public perception of the industry. With widespread involvement across the spectrum from testing to treatments to vaccines, experts say there is an opportunity to showcase drugmakers’ dedication to research, innovation and philanthropy. 

“This is a time that shows everything that pharma stands for and leaning into doing what’s right for patients is so much what of what’s happening in our world right now,” said Jennifer O’Dwyer, Evoke president, North America.

RELATED: Trump’s flipped his view on pharma companies thanks to COVID-19. Will the public?

Other pharma companies that have also announced relief funds for COVID-19 include:

The Novartis COVID-19 Response Fund will donate $20 million in grants to support public health initiatives with an accelerated global approval process for quick disbursement of funds up to $1 million each. Novartis listed specific interest in healthcare infrastructure, new community programs and digital platform solutions.

GlaxoSmithKline chipped in $10 million to the relief fund established by the U.N. Foundation and World Health Organization. The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund will support efforts to prevent, detect and manage the pandemic, including providing medical supplies such as PPE to health workers.

Eli Lilly, through its Lilly Foundation, pledged $500,000 to the United Way of Central Indiana’s $16.5 million economic relief fund to help organizations who serve families and individuals affected by COVID-19. Lilly’s headquarters is in Indianapolis. 

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