An Update on AmerisourceBergen's Operations in Russia

Company will cease any new business initiatives in Russia while completing support of existing clinical trials and continuing distribution of oncology therapies and pharmaceutical products.

Leaders at AmerisourceBergen have been carefully monitoring the international response and reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many businesses in the private sector have made the decision to cease operations in Russia, but that choice must be weighed with exceptional care at our company.

Right now our World Courier team in Russia is supporting nearly 60 clinical trials – many for promising oncology therapies and new cell and gene therapy treatments along with the commercial distribution of some pharmaceutical products. Immediately halting our operations in the country could, and likely would, amount to punitive action against the most vulnerable. There is no doubt that, for example, patients fighting cancer would lose access to medications that may be aiding their personal battle against the disease.

There are also larger social ramifications to consider. Making the decision to effectively end the clinical trials our teams are supporting is a strike against medical innovations that may help patients across the globe. As those in the biopharmaceutical industry well know, clinical trials are complex. To discard the insights that will come from these ongoing programs may push back the approval and launch of a therapy with lifesaving potential.

With this in mind AmerisourceBergen has made the decision to provide limited logistical support of pharmaceutical products and of the existing clinical trial programs our teams are executing against in Russia while ceasing any new business initiatives in the country.

Our hope is this stance meets our obligation to our purpose – uniting in our responsibility to create healthier futures – while limiting impact on the ill and vulnerable. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people who inspire us with their resilience and are taking numerous actions to support those who are defending their country – many of which are outlined in Steve Collis’s perspectives here.

Our hope in sharing this perspective is to articulate the nuanced choice AmerisourceBergen must make to meet the needs of vulnerable patients, support medical innovation and to do our part to stand against imperialism.