Supporting People With Diabetes,Through COVID-19 and Beyond

I have learned that we should never take the lives we lead for granted, and it is important for all of us to focus on the simple things that matter the most in everything we do. This is never more true than working for a pharmaceutical company at this time. At Sanofi, our top priority is to continue making and delivering medicines to patients, while protecting our employees, their families, and their communities. I feel a sense of pride in how colleagues aim to help patients, healthcare professionals, and society as a whole, every minute of every day. Sanofi is at the forefront of global initiatives that could have an immediate impact in the fight against Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We are using our knowledge in the development of vaccines to look for potential candidates and are currently investigating two Sanofi products for the management of COVID-19, Plaquenil and Kevzara, with the appropriate regulatory authorities.

In the field of diabetes, at this point in time, Sanofi can continue to supply insulin in line with global demand. People living with diabetes and healthcare professionals also need clear and consistent information and instructions to provide good direction on emergency supply, delivery infrastructure, education on what is covered, and patient affordability programs in some regions/countries. We are collaborating with scientific societies, patient groups, and health authorities to help to deliver accurate communications and clear guidance to people living with diabetes and to healthcare professionals.

The work we do in the digital technology space to develop tools and services that can help people with diabetes to better self-manage their condition, while remaining connected with healthcare professionals and carers, has never been more relevant. The ability to better monitor diabetes via connected ecosystems (such as insulin dose monitoring, glucose sensing viewed through software applications, etc.) will become more commonplace in the coming years, and I’m sure will fit with trends in society to being virtually connected. As the father of a daughter with type 1 diabetes, I also worry about her ability to keep safe and well, and that all of her medicines, technology, and consumables continue to be supplied easily and work well. We are one large community trying to help each other to do the right thing.

Working for a global pharmaceutical company with more than 100 000 employees, we have also learned a lot about how to interact with one another! The deployment of good video-enabled software, and learning ways to better utilize these technologies, has shown that traditional ways of working can be conducted in a very different way, from homes all across the world. It is challenging for the many company representatives who spend every day calling on healthcare professionals. We are all learning that we need to communicate with one another in a different way and ensure the right information is provided in the right way at the right time.

In the future, I predict (and hope) we will appreciate doing the simple things in life in a new way, that we will have reinforced our connection with what matters most in society, and that some of the new ways of working (from our homes!) will become a more normalized way to live our lives.