Novartis’s Sandoz division will not make a profit on 15 generic drugs it is making available to developing countries to treat symptoms of Covid-19, the Swiss drugmaker has said.

Novartis said it would provide medicines ranging from antibiotics and steroids to diarrhoea pills to 79 countries on the World Bank’s list of low- and lower-middle income nations.

The Basel-based drugmaker plans to maintain the zero-profit programme until the pandemic ends or a vaccine or cure is found, Novartis Global Health Chief Operating Officer Lutz Hegemann said in an interview.

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