Big Pharma grounds employees: GSK, Bristol, Roche, Sanofi and more limit travel due to coronavirus

Biopharma companies are hunkering down as the COVID-19 epidemic breaks out worldwide. In a FiercePharma survey of biopharma companies late last month, most drugmakers said they were simply limiting travel to hard-hit countries such as China, South Korea and Italy. Now, as more cases pop up across the U.S., Europe and Asia, their tone has shifted. GlaxoSmithKline has “instructed all employees to postpone non-critical international business travel until further notice,” a spokesman said. Bristol Myers Squibb started restricting on business travel and put the kibosh on workplace and company meetings until the end of March. And BMS' limits don't just apply to employees and contractors, but to partners, suppliers and vendors, too, a spokeswoman said.