COVID-19: What are we at Malvern Panalytical doing to help?
I don’t do blogs. Not sure why; it may just be an age thing! But I just got an update from my daughter who works for a major biopharmaceutical company here in the Boston area, on what her company is doing to continue providing life-saving pharmaceutical products to the US and the rest of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic; and I felt obliged to relay that information to others.
Working through a ‘social distance’
My daughter’s company transitioned to a ‘work at home if possible’ policy with the first signs that the virus had taken hold in the US. As the outbreak continued to spread, they implemented rotating shifts for those who could not work from home, to maximize social distancing. Virtual meetings became the communications norm for relaying information between the ‘work-at-homes’ and the front-line production ‘essential workers’. Remote controls and data links were set up for vital instrumentation, with specific individuals assigned to load and unload samples across multiple systems as needed.
Next, they set up safety tents at the building entrances, where employees are required to gown-, goggle-, mask-, and glove-up, have their temperature taken, then answer questions regarding contact with others and whether or not they are exhibiting any symptoms, all prior to entering the building. And their most recent action? Rapid cross-training of work-from-home researchers in front-line production and quality control functions, as a backup to ensure that their lifesaving products continue to be available to the public, while maximizing the safety of their employees.
Wow – that’s impressive! And I don’t use that phrase very often.
So, how are we playing our part?
While Malvern Panalytical cannot directly provide solutions to the COVID-19 challenge in the form of vaccines, antibiotics and other medicines, we do support a large number of customers whose work is to do exactly this! We have implemented plans to support our customers, colleagues, and partners within the pharmaceutical industry and our pharmaceutical support teams to the maximum extent of our abilities, and expanded our remote support capabilities to include:
- Remote product demonstrations
- Remote product training
- Remote educational courses, tailored to our customers’ needs
- Remote access to our application scientists and product specialists for method development, data interpretation, and technology consultation
In addition, we have:
- Expanded our laboratory support capabilities to provide expedited sample analysis for customers in need of assistance with one or more of our core technologies
For more information on how we can support you, please contact your local Malvern Panalytical representative.
We’re all part of the same team
As indicated by our medical communities and leaders, we are all in this together, and we want our pharmaceutical development partners to know that, while operating within the WHO and CDC guidelines regarding social distancing, Malvern Panalytical is still fully operational and ready to assist you. If there is anything we can do to help – please ask.