Serving science in the battle against COVID-19

Thermo Fisher is at the heart of the global response to COVID-19. We are working with government agencies and researchers globally to ensure priority access to instruments, consumables, safety supplies and other products to address the outbreak–particularly in analysis of the virus, diagnosis and personal protection.

Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, and the COVID-19 outbreak is a powerful reminder of the importance of that mission. We are profoundly aware of our obligations to ensure the safety of our colleagues, continue supporting our customers and leverage our capabilities to address the public health crisis.

See the section titled "COVID-19 Related Products & Services" above for links to solutions from pathogen detection and epidemiological studies to potential vaccine development.

We are closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation for any potential impact on our business to help ensure we can continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on. This includes carefully managing our inventory, production and supply chains.

At the present time, we are not experiencing any significant supply issues for most of our products.

Personal protective equipment is in limited supply due to increased demand. We are working with our manufacturers to secure supply and prioritize shipments for those customers directly involved in containing the spread of COVID-19. This includes first responders, health care workers and customers supporting patient testing and vaccine development. Our core PPE suppliers are providing daily updates and doing everything possible to support us. We are also working with an expanded group of suppliers globally to increase our inventories, validating alternative sources of supply and expediting freight modes wherever possible, but recovery will take time.

We are committed to keeping you informed of any changes that could affect timelines for the delivery of products or services we provide to you.

We know you rely on us as an essential partner to support your work now more than ever. We are committed to continuing our operations and serving your needs throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our approach involves a globally coordinated response, comprehensive site preparedness, employee training and communication, and robust business continuity planning:

• We have established Incident Response Teams at the corporate level and in key regions to immediately address suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus that could impact colleagues at our sites. These teams have established protocols to help site leadership escalate appropriately and manage through any issues in a consistent and planful way.
• We are working closely with governments and suppliers to navigate any locally imposed quarantines or restrictions so our sites can remain operational, given the importance of our role is supporting the COVID-19 response and the health care system in general.
• All of our sites are following enhanced cleaning protocols, visitor policies and stringent preventative measures.
• We are restricting travel, encouraging remote work, and instituting social distancing and hygiene protocols.
• All of our operations globally have business continuity plans in place, and we are continually reviewing them, prioritizing orders and shipments for those customers directly involved in containing the spread of COVID-19.
• We are working with suppliers globally to secure continuity of raw materials and critical components, and to facilitate the movement of goods across borders and using available modes of transport.

Our measures have been developed in line with guidance from the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local government agencies. We’ve also convened a panel of global medical experts to give us advice and serve as a sounding board for new protocols and guidance as we roll them out.

We continue to closely monitor this rapidly evolving situation and any potential impact on our business to ensure we can continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on.

You can learn more about our approach to business continuity by viewing our presentation: Navigating the Coronavirus Outbreak.

We are working closely with local governments and suppliers to navigate any locally imposed quarantines or restrictions so our sites can remain operational, given the importance of our role in supporting the COVID-19 response and the health care system in general.

Shipments in and out of China have a delay, on average, of about 3-5 days. Shipping capacity within China is recovering after a steep reduction for several weeks. However, we have still been able to manage urgent shipments.

We continue to monitor our supply chain as it relates to China and other parts of Asia and address any challenges so we can continue to support our customers.

Unprecedented demand surges are extending normal lead times in a few main product categories. We can confirm lead times and allocations when customers place orders for these products through their normal channels:

• PPE – we, as well as all of our PPE suppliers, are in allocation mode and currently unable to confirm lead times
• Microbiologic swab kits – our sites and supplier sites are at maximum capacity, with an increasing backlog, requiring allocation of supplies
• Other COVID-19 related materials – we are allocating due to urgent demands
• Diagnostic accessories and general lab research products from our Fisher Scientific and Fisher Healthcare channels – due to the large size of those portfolios, we will work with customers on lead times or alternate products

We are taking our guidance from the CDC and the WHO. While survivability of the virus on various surfaces is not fully understood, according to these agencies, there is currently no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods. You can find the latest information from the CDC and the WHO as it becomes available.

Our goals during this global health challenge are to protect our colleagues while continuing to support our customers, and to do our part to limit the spread of the virus. We instituted a global travel ban for all of our colleagues around the world through April 15, 2020, at which time we will reassess the situation.

We are also limiting meetings, restricting visitors at our sites, and encouraging work-from-home situations where possible. In lieu of face-to-face meetings, we are leveraging various technology solutions, which are working well. Essential customer support activities (i.e., field service calls, etc.) continue as usual.

Our teams are working around the clock to ramp-up production given the unprecedented nature of this situation and the global demand for tests. We are monitoring all orders and working with customers to help ensure we are getting tests out to areas where there is the greatest need from a public health perspective. We are encouraging customers to use existing email and phone contacts for customer support so our teams can answer any specific questions they have about their order.

As of March 25, 2020, our Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit has received designated approvals in the U.S., European Economic Area*, Canada, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand. We are working with other governments to make it more broadly available. We also have a number of other COVID-19 related solutions that are available to customers globally and intended for research use only.

* The European Economic Area includes the European Union (EU)—Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden—and the following countries: United Kingdom (UK), Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Turkey.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is providing clinical testing laboratories with the necessary equipment to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19. By law, we cannot provide any individuals with test kits. These are complex diagnostic tests that can only be performed in approved clinical laboratories. Please refer to your local public health authorities for test availability, or visit the CDC or WHO websites for additional information.