Life Sciences
Very few companies are confronted with such a complex range of risks as those in the life science, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Globalization, tough legal and regulatory environments, complex supply chains, demanding consumers, and intense competition present significant risk management challenges. Times are changing; while large high profile product liability lawsuits have become common, emerging risks such as product recall, counterfeit products and the loss of intellectual property are of growing concern to risk managers. At JLT, we understand these risks.
Our Life Science/Pharmaceutical and Chemicals Practice is comprised of a team of experienced and talented brokers and industry leaders, many of whom have served at the senior level with major pharmaceutical companies and possess a broad range of experience and expertise. With qualifications in law, pharmacy, chemistry, engineering, applied biology, agronomy, economics and pharmaceutical risk management, we are capable of helping you identify solutions to your most challenging risk issues. At JLT, we take pride in the fact that our team possesses the depth of knowledge and experience to deliver true pharmaceutical risk management.
We strive to:
- know more about the industry than any competitor;
- think more deeply and strategically about our clients' needs and issues;
- more effectively analyze critical risks and develop novel solutions;
- develop new and innovative products; and
- provide a superior broking and support service that is uniquely tailored to the needs of your company
JLT's clients include many of the world's largest life science/pharmaceutical organizations and major chemical companies. By choosing JLT, you will benefit from our extensive knowledge of the industry and its legislative environment, unrivalled technical expertise in developing and negotiating policy language, and a service tailored to all of your life science, pharmaceutical and chemical insurance needs.
Our Services
Our Industry Practice offers the following consultancy and broking services to life science and specialty chemical companies:
- Clinical Trials
- Product Liability
- Transit & Cargo
- Property and Business Interruption
- Intellectual Property
- Directors & Officers Liability
- Risk Consulting
- Health, Safety & Environmental Regulatory Review
- Electronic Equipment Maintenance Insurance Program
As longer and larger clinical trials become increasingly commonplace, arranging insurance programs to meet exacting requirements can be both complicated and costly. Through our management of the clinical trials insurance arrangements for a pharmaceutical company's multinational ongoing trials, we have acquired a wealth of knowledge in this specialist area. We have also created a clinical trials country database comprising all the necessary information to help you comply with all legal and regulatory requirements.
We can provide coverage as part of a products liability policy, however, we also provide the option of individual clinical trial cover through our unique partnership with various carriers. Additionally we have developed the first of its kind on-line clinical trial certificate application and binder system, wherein the delegated company representative can log on, complete a questionnaire, bind coverage, and issue a certificate instantaneously.
Due to major product liability actions, predominantly in the US, the life science product liability marketplace is one of the most challenging in the insurance industry. This is particularly the case for large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, who have been the target of most of the litigation. It is important, therefore, to understand the implications of different insurance policy wordings, how they fit together, and how to minimize product exclusions. It is also important to understand what limits you require, what pricing can be achieved, and what your peers are doing. We are the product liability insurance broker of choice for many of the world's largest pharmaceutical and medical device companies and our knowledge of the intricacies of policy wordings is unmatched.
Standard cargo policy wordings do not offer the full scope of cover required by life science companies and tailoring wordings to specific exposures has always been a strength of JLT. Important considerations in a cargo policy include:
- Continuity of coverage throughout all aspects of transportation without termination for delay, deviation or allocation.
- Coverage for "spoilage" resulting from temperature spikes.
In addition, we evaluate how a company's property/business interruption policy interacts with the transit policy to determine if consequential loss and stock throughput coverage should be included in the transit policy to take advantage of lower deductibles.
Our approach to property and business interruption insurance is driven by a belief that few programs truly fit the client's risk profile. Our team is experienced in designing and implementing complex programs that can include the following:
- Non-damage business interruption
- Radioactive and Bio- contamination
- Business income protection for research and development income
- Contingent/Dependent business interruption including full supplier's coverage
We currently place and manage the property programs for three of the top global pharmaceutical companies.
The loss of intellectual property protection, particularly patents, can have dramatic effects on the revenue stream and share price of life science companies. Losing patents, perhaps due to legal action or natural expiration can cause sales and profit to radically decline. The loss of a patent through natural expiration can be mitigated through product portfolio management, new products and lifecycle management of existing products. What is more difficult to mitigate, however, is where a patent is lost unexpectedly. The potential business interruption can become even more damaging when a company relies on a small number of key products.
Although life science companies, on a global perspective, understand the value of their intellectual property and how best to protect it, they are often not aware of an available insurance option to transfer some of this business interruption risk. We can arrange insurance cover that enables the loss of revenue suffered from earlier than expected loss of patent to be indemnified.
Senior executives in life science and chemical companies face many types of liability. For example, failure of a hyped product to reach market can often lead to a share price drop and legal action against the company and its senior management. In Canada, there are strict health, safety and environmental regulations that can result in directors and officers facing criminal charges. It is important that your policy covers you against the broad range of exposures including securities claims, shareholder lawsuits; employment practice liability and regulatory complianc
Core Risks Ltd, JLT's global consulting affiliate, offers a variety of compliance and risk consultancy services, including:
- Development and monitoring of effective compliance programs.
- Enterprise risk management.
- Business interruption reviews, business continuity planning (including pandemic planning).
- Crisis management, disaster recovery, and the management of complex claims related to pharmaceutical litigation.
The team at Core Risks Ltd (CRL) are all former senior executives from the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Few consultancies can offer such breadth of experience and industry knowledge. This combination between our risk experts and broking teams can help you refine your risk management and financing strategies and ensure your insurance contracts meet your needs.
There is an increased responsibility on companies and senior management to demonstrate due diligence in health, safety and environmental issues. JLT can provide risk control services to minimize injuries, incidents and ensure regulatory compliance. These include the following:
- Safety & Environmental Program Compliance and Due Diligence Audits.
- Workers Compensation Program Review.
- Health & Safety Measurement Audits.
- Management/Employee Health & Safety Training.
We can provide an insurance program that replaces your collective electronic equipment maintenance contracts with one program that is guaranteed to reduce your maintenance costs by between 10% and 25%. This program can include IT equipment, security systems, laboratory analytical equipment and any other equipment that is electronic in nature.
