Novartis renews commitment to key advocacies

MANILA, Philippines - Novartis Healthcare Philippines formally inaugurated its renovated building facility in Makati City in a recent simple but meaningful ceremony attended by key government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps and top officials of Novartis Global.

“The refurbished Novartis building manifests our company’s commitment to help promote progress in the Philippines through our key advocacies: improving access to health care and fostering research and development in the country,” said Eric van Oppens, president and CEO, Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

Renovation work on the seven-story Asian Reinsurance building located at the corner of Legaspi and Gamboa streets, Legaspi Village was undertaken by RFN Construction and Development Corp. and designed by Architect Felino Palafox, Jr. of Palafox & Associates.

The refurbishment work included interior and exterior improvements on the 38-year old building.

“Through our umbrella access program Kaagapay, Novartis has been actively implementing various access initiatives that benefit Filipino patients,” said Christine Liwanag, corporate affairs and market access director of Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

To date, the Novartis Malaria Initiative has provided over 172,260 treatments at no profit of its highly effective malaria drug artemether/lumefantrine to Filipino patients.

Since its inception in 2003, the Novartis Oncology Access (NOA) program has helped provide the breakthrough treatment imatinib to over 1100 Filipino cancer patients. From 2006 to 2009, benefits provided by the NOA program to Filipino cancer patients are valued at over P3 billion.

One of the highlights of the inaugural was the testimonial of Kristine Lim, who at the age of seven was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML).

Lim is one of the many beneficiaries of the Novartis Oncology Assistance program and has been on imatinib treatment since 2003. She represents the more than 1,500 Filipino patients who have benefited under the Novartis Glivec International Patient Access Program (GIPAP) and NOA.

Lim is now 21 years old and graduated this year with a degree in Business Management at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

The DOH-Valsartan Access Program, a groundbreaking partnership between the Department of Health and Novartis Philippines, provides low-income Filipino patients with access to an effective blood-pressure lowering medicine.

Novartis has an ongoing partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in holding local BioCamps, annual biotechnology workshops for young, promising Filipino scientists and researchers.

At the end of each Local BioCamp, two outstanding Filipino students are selected to represent the country in the prestigious International BioCamp.

According to Domingo, the Philippines is part of the Novartis International Clinical Research Organization, which conducts clinical trials for new medicines. After only over a year of operations, Novartis has allocated to the Philippines 16 clinical trial projects with over 40 sites.

Novartis, through the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), is collaborating with the DOST in information exchange and knowledge transfer among foreign and local scientists in the area of tropical diseases such as dengue, tuberculosis and malaria.

In September 2009, the NITD and Novartis Philippines, in collaboration with the DOH, DOST and infectious disease organizations, successfully held the first International Dengue Symposium in Manila.

Novartis has a diversified portfolio that best meets the varied and often complex needs of patients and societies.

The company’s portfolio includes pharmaceuticals, vaccines and diagnostics, over-the-counter and ophthalmic (eye care) products, and animal health products, and its world-renowned generics arm Sandoz.