Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?    

As a member of the Viatris’ legal team, I helped with the design and digitalisation of “smart” agreements for interactions with the healthcare community. Our team created user-friendly e-contracts, integrated to an end-to-end approval & contract management application. This solution works as a standardised self-service tool for the business, while meeting the highest legal and industry requirements. This innovation, having been conceived and realised in-house, was not only cost-conscious, but also unlocked value as it relieved the legal team from repetitive, high-volume and low-value tasks.  

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in? 

In 2023, the consolidation, by way of legal merger, of all Viatris affiliates in Greece was completed. This was a complex, high value, and business critical two-year project, which commanded ownership, cross-functional & cross-border coordination and demanding project management. The legal team led, arranged, and delivered the successful completion of the merger, which already produced tangible operational, regulatory, and business upsides.   

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?     

Selecting the right outside counsel is fundamental to the success of any project requiring outsourced expertise. That said, soft skills are as important as specialisation and technical know-how. In a competitive, still hyper-regulated and ethics sensitive industry as pharma is, external lawyers should be on the same page with their clients. Viatris’ mission is to serve patients, while upholding the highest standards of quality, ethics, compliance, integrity and sustainability. It is critical that external counsels share these principles and implement them while executing the job assigned. It’s a proven fact that outside lawyers that embrace common values with clients and their in-house legal partners, understand better the task in scope and deliver results more effectively.