Viatris 2023 Sustainability Report: Breaking Down Systemic Barriers To Access Through Policy Engagement

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 9, 2024 / Over the course of their lifetime, people will likely need many types of medicine, spanning infectious and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Accessing all these medicines at the right time, in the right place, can be life changing. Public policies are central factors in determining access to medicines as most often there are systemic issues that need to be addressed for meaningful and lasting improvements. Moreover, policymakers often encounter increasingly complex environments where finding perfect solutions is challenging.

Viatris is a member of ~160 trade associations.

We leverage our global experiences, scientific expertise and operations knowledge to support policymakers in identifying policies that advance access to quality medicines and build systems that sustain availability while minimizing unintended consequences. Because we have operations in countries around the world and a broad portfolio across most therapeutic areas spanning generics, trusted brands, improved versions of existing medicines and novel therapeutics, we have insights into the trade-offs policymakers face when considering how best to develop policies that meet people's diverse health needs.

Given the breadth of our portfolio and geographic footprint, Viatris is well positioned to support policymakers in identifying opportunities for policy change aligned with advancing access to medicines - not just for one medicine, or one disease, but for all medicines. Taking a systems-level approach to consider policy enablers of access allows us to identify the changes that could facilitate access, not only for one company, but for all seeking to serve the world's health needs.

Our global policy priorities are to advance access to quality medicines, strengthen resilient global supply and build future access. In 2023, we did this in many ways including:

Advancing Access to Quality Medicines

• Engaged alongside industry partners including the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA) in pursuit of regulatory harmonization, including actively contributing expertise to technical working groups of the International Council on Harmonization (ICH). Through IGBA, Viatris has a strong presence on ICH Expert Working Groups (EWGs). Viatris currently represents IGBA on four ICH EWGs, providing our technical expertise to help increase harmonization worldwide for the development and approval of safe, effective, and high-quality medicines.