Don’t foresee any disruptions due to Covid-19: Vasant Narasimhan, CEO, Novartis

Mumbai: Novartis, among the world’s top 10 drug makers, does not anticipate any supply disruptions from the Covid-19 epidemic to impact the production and distribution of its drugs anywhere, including India, global CEO Vasant Narasimhan said in an interview to ET.

Narasimhan said Novartis is confident of covering its production and distribution requirements for the “time being” from the existing stock of raw material.

There are fears the Covid-19 pandemic will affect pharma industry supply chains since companies in India and around the world import a bulk of raw materials from China, the epicentre of the outbreak. But Narasimhan said Novartis will not be affected.

Narasimhan is in India for his annual visit and to attend BioAsia 2020, a global biotech event starting Tuesday in Hyderabad.

Novartis is one of the oldest pharma MNCs known for anti-cancer and anti-diabetic drugs. Despite the patent expiry for its popular anti-diabetic drug Galvus, Narasimhan is upbeat about Novartis’ India prospects. The company will launch 15 new drugs in the country, said Narasimhan, who anticipates a shift toward innovative procedures such as gene, RNA and cell therapies.