Launching Viatris: Rallying colleagues, rising above the pan

Launching a company is both exhilarating and challenging for any communications team. The effort becomes much more substantial when it involves thousands of employees, a critical purpose, world class science and millions of patients depending on the newly launched company for medicines.
That was the case for Viatris, launched in 2020 as a new kind of healthcare company built on access, leadership and partnership, and ready to serve patients in over 165 countries and territories.
Created from two storied names in medicine-- Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn —Viatris set out to have a seamless launch and operate from Day One as a global company with the breadth and depth to provide more efficient access to high-quality medicines to patients and healthcare systems around the world. Viatris would have a new brand identity, vision, a clearly articulated mission, and a series of commitments to each of its stakeholders, starting with patients.
To do this, an in-house communications team emerged as partners with Viatris leadership to conceptualize and deliver the global launch. The team was charged with energizing some 45,000 soon-to-be Viatris employees in a new brand and vision, including the expectation that healthcare access should be the norm for everyone, regardless of geography or circumstance.
COVID-19 burst into an international crisis during launch preparations, vastly compounding an already formidable challenge. In the end, the crisis affirmed the resilience and flexibility of Viatris colleagues and their willingness to surmount every obstacle. The launch was temporarily delayed but not derailed by COVID-19. A global, around-the-clock effort set the launch plans into motion, culminating with Viatris Day One in November 2020.
Overall, the communications team conquered the challenges of the pandemic and drove a successful launch, introducing Viatris as a company ready and willing to work for healthcare not as it is, but as it should be. From Day One, Viatris has sustained high levels of customer service to ensure supply continuity to hundreds of millions of patients and continues to deliver on its mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life.