How 13 drugmakers have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic

Drugmakers have taken steps such as lowering insulin costs and waiving license restrictions on possible treatments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The companies have also cut staff and delayed mergers to protect themselves financially.

Editor’s note: This is not an exhaustive list. Drugmakers are listed in alphabetical order.

1. AbbVie waived license restrictions on an HIV drug that may treat COVID-19. The drugmaker also pushed back its takeover of Allergan to May due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Bayer fired an employee who broke quarantine rules in Beijing, China.
3. Eli Lilly capped insulin costs at $35 per month in an effort to help patients afford the drug during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Gilead asked the FDA to take back orphan drug status for its experimental drug, remdesivir, which is being tested to treat COVID-19. It also boosted production of remdesivir and had 1.5 million doses as of April 4.
5. Johnson & Johnson partnered with the U.S. government to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, with the government investing $1 billion.
6. Mylan delayed its merger with Upjohn until the second half of this year because of unexpected delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
7. Novartis said it plans to conduct a 440-person clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19.
8. Novo Nordisk offered a free 90-day supply of insulin to patients who were financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
9.  Regeneron teamed up with Sanofi to launch clinical trials to see if a drug they co-developed can treat symptoms of COVID-19.
10. Rising Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey-based drugmaker, slashed the price of its chloroquine tablets, a drug that may treat COVID-19, by more than half.
11. Pfizer identified a lead COVID-19 drug candidate that it hopes to start testing on humans in the summer.
12. Sage Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based drugmaker, cut 53 percent of its workforce in an effort to save money.
13. Sanofi partnered with GlaxoSmithKline to create a COVID-19 vaccine with funding from HHS.