Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statement Update

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statement - 9th April 2020

We are confronting an unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 viral outbreak. Inevitably this pandemic will result in significant impact on society and interruption to businesses. None of us have experienced anything equivalent to this situation, and it is changing rapidly on a day-to-day basis.

As mentioned in our last update, Quotient activated our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery procedures and are holding daily meetings of the Global Crisis Management Team. Guiding all the decisions that we have and will take are the following objectives:

1. Protecting the health and well-being of our employees

2. Protecting the health and well-being of our clinical trial volunteers;

3. Delivering the best possible customer service possible under the circumstances; and

4. Protecting the sustainability of the business, and enabling it to recover

Employees

The health and well-being of our employees is of paramount importance. In recent weeks we have implemented numerous actions to reduce the risk of infections to our employees. Following Government advice, we have provided guidance on personal hygiene practices, restricted visitor access (internal and external) to our facilities and have curtailed all non-essential business-related travel.

These measures have played their role, but we are now entering a different phase that will require more acute measures. Specifically: -

• Our primarily goal is to reduce the density of employees at each of our facilities to minimise the chance of cross infection.
• We are encouraging any employee, who can work from home, to work from home.
• We are supporting any employee who falls into a higher risk category to choose the course of action that they believe is the best for them.
• If any employee must isolate at home to protect their health and well-being or has childcare/dependant responsibilities, we are following the applicable government and local policies and supporting those individuals during this difficult time.
• We are working to ensure IT / communications and the tools necessary for home working are available.

Clinical Trial Volunteers/Study Participants

The health and well-being of our clinical trial volunteers is also of paramount importance. We are taking on board all guidance from governments, regulatory agencies and our customers in deciding on how to progress with specific studies at both our Nottingham and Miami clinics.

Clinical Trial Material and Commercial Manufacturing

At the present time we continue to manufacture drug products at all our facilities to supply into clinical trials ongoing around the world and to meet the commercial production requirements for approved drugs. 

Customer Service

Our customers are experiencing the same issues that we are and are very understanding of the difficult situation.  Quotient will continue to communicate with clarity and transparency to all our customers and we are working hard to keep communication channels open. Specifically: -

• If any customer project is impacted by the COVID-19 situation, our project management or business development staff will have already been in contact to discuss the different scenarios and options available.
• All of Quotient’s customer facing staff and main points of contact for our customers remain contactable during normal working hours by the usual email and phone channels.
• Where a Quotient employee is working remotely, they will have access to Quotient’s email and other key systems to allow them to function efficiently in their roles.
• In terms of telephony, our office phone lines will be directed to mobile phones or to our main switchboard, where it will be possible to speak to a Quotient Sciences employee.

To our customers, volunteers, employees, suppliers and other partners, thank you for your patience and ongoing support of Quotient. As we work through this process together, we will endeavour to provide regular updates moving forward. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mark Egerton, CEO