COVID-19 BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING PULSE – JUNE 2021

Customer Colleagues,

At Syneos Health, our priorities in 2021 continue to be protecting health and safety, while partnering with our customers, sponsors and investigators to deliver life-saving medicines to patients worldwide. As part of our commitment to continuous communication, following our initial Business Continuity Planning (BCP) update and weekly editions throughout the majority of 2020, we’re now issuing a monthly BCP PULSE to keep you aware of our efforts. 

ENSURING PATIENTS REMAIN AT THE CENTER

Industries across all sectors adapted and persisted throughout the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The healthcare industry – whether hospital systems, government agencies, biopharmaceutical companies, service providers and beyond – remained steadfast with patients as their core focus.

Ensuring the safe development and fastest path to life-changing therapies has always been our top priority. Speeding therapies requires the collaboration and commitment of our employees, customers, healthcare providers and patients to change lives. Amplifying this focus, Syneos Health recently announced the official launch of our Patient Voice Consortium, a cross-functional hub designed to share expertise, resources and relationships to ensure early and strategic integration of patient perspectives across the product lifecycle. Tapping Syneos Health clinical and commercial minds, the Consortium combines therapeutic, patient reported outcomes and registries, patient advocacy, storytelling, behavioral science, compliance and health policy capabilities to put patient perspectives at the forefront of innovation.

As we prepare to reactivate globally throughout the rest of the year, we’re ready to listen even more closely than ever before to the patients we’re all here to serve.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING REACTIVATION SUMMARY

Our Business Continuity Planning Transition Management Office (TMO), in alignment with FDA, CDC, WHO and other local and international health authority guidance, includes multiple workstreams. In each BCP PULSE, we’re including select workstream updates to keep you aware of our learnings and efforts.

• Regulatory Guidance: Aggregating and synthesizing EMA and FDA guidance, and updating regulations and restrictions in order to provide direction to our employees and customers on when – or when not – to pivot and/or reactivate.
• Change Management: Working internally and with customers on change management activities to ensure preparedness as dynamics shift.
• Field Team Connections: Compiling best practices for remote activities and HCP preferences, and benchmarking remote versus in-person detailing metrics.
• Sponsor Connections: Working collaboratively with sponsors in the “now normal” to press forward with studies underway while initiating new trials.
• Continued Preparedness Planning: Tracking evolving trends in COVID-19 cases and emerging variants, as well as vaccination rollout progress, to develop scenario plans and share best-practice learnings.

BEST PRACTICES – DEDICATED DE&I EXPERTISE AND IMPACT

Working hand in hand with hundreds of companies – and our 25,000 employees worldwide – we’re designing integrated lab to life solutions every day. Each challenge presents the opportunity to apply key learnings to build better approaches and resiliency.

• Providing on-demand and long-term diverse perspectives through our DE&I Advisory Council: As healthcare leaders, we have the opportunity to drive overdue social change to improve outcomes and public health by designing customer programs to lead through the era of corporate awakening, accountability and equity. Our DE&I Advisory Council includes cross-functional experts from media, business, academia, non-profit and government who serve as catalyst and progress champions, providing unique insights and perspectives. Members consult with Syneos Health and our customers, with engagements ranging from advice on an as-needed basis, to reviewing proposed plans, hosting working sessions and brainstorms, or participating as third-party counsel for client programs. If you’d like to learn more about our DE&I Advisory Council or other DE&I solutions, please contact Lucy Abreu.

REAL-TIME RESOURCES

We’re regularly updating our COVID-19 Resource Center with capabilities and perspectives to navigate, deliver and learn together. We are looking to exchange your learnings and experiences, too.  Should you have ideas, comments or concerns, please contact us.

Thank you for your partnership.