Novartis in Global Health

Over the last 30 years, Novartis has built the sector’s largest pipeline of treatments for malaria and neglected tropical diseases through a dedicated Global Health unit. Yet, by 2024, visibility for this work had fallen to all-time lows – hampering efforts to drive awareness of the company’s global health work and build reputational equity.

Internally, too, the lack of visibility was affecting staff support: nearly one in four employees (24%) did not believe global health supported the company’s overall strategy, and less than half (49%) thought Novartis communicated effectively about its global health work.

This year, Novartis set out to turn this around by leveraging two malaria milestones: the approval and launch of Coartem Baby, the world’s first malaria treatment for young infants, and pivotal clinical trial results for KLU156 (ganaplacide/lumefantrine), a next-generation antimalarial.

Using a two-stage media relations strategy, in a tough external environment, Novartis secured blanket coverage around the world, with more than 3,680 pieces of coverage across both news moments – all of it positive and on message – with an audience reach was 3.43 billion. Feedback from the media was extremely positive, too: “I adore working with you,” on journalist told the team.

The impact was huge: share of voice rose and search rose to all-time highs. Almost all members of staff expressed pride, with media a key driver. Three in four employees said they shared positive news about Novartis’ global health work, on average seven times – the equivalent of nearly 550,000 positive conversations