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We have worked on a number of significant cases recently. As well as legal assistance in new products launches and digital initiatives, we have been involved in IP protection of Novartis brands, the development of regional commercial agreements and regional tenders through COMISCA. In addition, we have worked on the implementation in El Salvador Municipality of Santa Tecla of Novartis Access Program, the Alcon Spin off and have provided legal advice regarding limitations and opportunities to engage with government, hospitals, social and private insurance to foster more access to our medicines. Internally, we have reduced the bureaucracy of request of legal documents through the elaboration and implementation of templates of contracts with the different functions and have optimised internal processes through training to Novartis internal associates.
New governments, tax reform in Costa Rica and Guatemala, regulatory changes in Panama, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering regulations in Panama and Costa Rica.
Digitalisation, new product launches and cultural transformation.
We assist the business being experts in our products and therapeutic areas anticipating risks and taking preventive actions to protect our brands.
We are participating in several trainings and we as a legal team are part of the digital committee.
We are a team devoted to service. We are committed with our patients and our clients, having always in mind doing the right thing. Our values and principles always prevail and we are very proud of our work helping patients to live better and longer lives.
We also seek to encourage a culture of compliance and integrity, based on the following elements: confidence in reporting when something was done incorrectly, organisational justice, clarity in expectations, zero-tolerance for corruption, curiosity, proactivity, and teamwork.
Novartis’ Central America and the Caribbean (CAC) legal team is an energised and passionate legal team. Novartis CAC is an affiliate that includes 29 diverse countries, counting from Spanish-speaking, to islands in the Caribbean. Novartis CAC has three legal entities, one in Guatemala, one in the Dominican Republic and one more in Panama, which has one subsidiary in Costa Rica and another subsidiary in Honduras. Novartis has three Divisions: Pharma, Oncology and Sandoz (our generics division). The Novartis CAC legal team provides legal advice to all of the Novartis Divisions and associates in all of the countries in the Region, which represents a massive amount of work. The Novartis CAC Legal Team provides legal counselling in different areas of law, such as IP, commercial, labour, civil, tax, general law, regulatory, anticorruption, anti-trust, data privacy and others. We are also responsible for the legal strategies to follow the business needs and reach goals, including litigation defending Novartis’ rights in every aspect. Consequently, Novartis CAC legal team has developed the following activities, including but not limited to: Contributing to and influencing the divisional and country business strategy and decision-making. Contributing to the development of the overall Legal functional strategy. Liaising with regional and global legal colleagues. Interacting with Novartis functions as a key business partner. Leading and being responsible for key legal processes, for example on negotiating contracts, managing litigation, advertising and promotional review, regulatory and compliance legal related issues. Being responsible for setting priorities, assuring the quality and consistency of legal advice, and for developing standards across all divisional legal functions within the countries. Anticipating and mitigating major legal, compliance and reputational risks to every country business in the region. Limits Novartis litigation risk exposure, including risk derived from legal and compliance issues working closely with executives across country, regional, and global units. Ensuring that Novartis leaders are kept abreast of relevant legal developments by coordinating the provision of legal counsel across the affiliate. Managing the budget and resource allocation for our own divisional legal group. Managing outside counsel panels for the divisions. Representing Novartis in external legal panels and forums. Ensuring compliance with local data protection legislation and relevant Novartis policies and regulations. Processing the legal documents within the periods established in the current legal documents policy. In addition, our legal head is a leader in various forums related to the pharmaceutical industry in CAC, for example, in the Central American Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories and in the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture in Panama, which allows us to discuss the challenges of the region, propose innovative ideas and solutions and anticipate the risks that may arise and could impact the pharmaceutical industry. Two of our lawyers are based in Guatemala and the legal head is based in Panama, therefore we are a virtual team that is used to interact among us and with our clients taking advantage of the technology and the different communication options to provide fast, proper, robust and clear legal answers. As a legal team we are developing our digital capabilities adapting to the new environment and we are always willing to learn and put our knowledge at business service. Finally, we are a diverse and inclusive team, where everyone is respectful and we celebrate the team’s successes and learn for failures and mistakes.
