Liability on the Frontline - Part 5: Lessons learned from the supply chain

From fast-tracked clinical trials to emergency medical devices and telehealth innovations, the Life Sciences sector is providing solutions to Covid-19. This series of reports explores what risks organisations are entering into as they ride to the world’s rescue and how they can protect themselves 

Liability on the Frontline -  Part 5: Lessons learned from the supply chain

At the start of the pandemic the global supply chain was tested as governments around the world urgently tried to buy personal protective equipment (PPE), test kits and other medical devices. This revealed pinch points, with production clustered in certain areas of the world, leaving the supply chain vulnerable to shocks, and governments at the mercy of global free markets in a time of crisis.

“Factories in Malaysia, which manufactures 65% of the world’s supply of medical gloves, suffered a lengthy lockdown following infection outbreaks, resulting in a global shortage,” explains Keith Gallois, Senior Risk Engineer and Life Sciences Industry Practitioner, Chubb.

The free market quickly corrected some of the initial problems. “To serve the global needs around PPE in such a short period of time – and a lot of that extra capacity came out of Asia through new companies - I thought was quite elastic and quite impressive,” says Alex Forrest, Head of Life Sciences – Overseas General, Chubb.

Read the full report here: https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/chubb-sites/chubb-com/uk-en/business/life-science-in-the-era-of-pandemics/documents/pdf/5500_Chubb_LS_R5_Supply-chain_UK_Acc.pdf