COVID-19: Social Impact

Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) is standing together with our communities to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We have taken several actions to make an impact in helping to slow the spread of COVID-19 and provide assistance to those in need. We are continually assessing what additional measures we can take to help healthcare providers, patients and our communities. In addition to taking steps to assure the needed supply of BI medicines for patients and animals in the U.S. and around the world, our company has taken many actions. Following are a few examples:

BI has made a number of financial contributions totaling more than $6.4 million to support our communities and to protect healthcare professionals in the critical services they are providing to patients, including a $500,000 donation to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) COVID-19 Crisis Fund to support the Society’s all-encompassing efforts to fight COVID-19, and assist with its members’ most urgent needs. We are the first corporation to support this fund. Additionally, we are offering all of our 51,000 employees the opportunity to take up to 10 days of paid leave to join approved external organizations as a volunteer to bring COVID-19 relief. Employees may choose to volunteer with our various community partners or with other nonprofit organizations in their own local communities. 

On a local level across our various sites, we are partnering with our vendors in redeploying their hard-working employees who support our U.S. cafeterias to prepare meals to donate to those who are struggling to access food. We are delivering hundreds of pre-packaged meals to individuals and families in need as well as healthcare professionals and first responders on the front lines. More information about our global COVID-19 efforts, is available here.

How is the BI Cares Foundation taking action?  

The Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation (BI Cares), a U.S. independent nonprofit organization, has taken action to help patients and strengthen our communities:

• BI Cares is making monetary donations and donating urgently needed medicines for patients through our non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.
• BI Cares established the BI Cares COVID-19 Community Relief Fund to help nonprofit partners in our local communities that need additional financial support due to the pandemic. Community partners can apply for and may receive up to $10K in emergency funding to address urgent unmet needs. 
• The Foundation is also temporarily increasing the quantity or frequency of prescription medicine refills for all covered medicines to eligible US patients enrolled in its charitable Patient Assistance Program to assure patients they can remain adherent to the treatment they need for their medical conditions.
• BI Cares added new causes to its Matching Gifts Program to provide Boehringer Ingelheim US employees the opportunity to double the impact of their charitable giving to a fund being used to prevent the spread of and help those affected by COVID-19.
• BI Cares is conducting employee engagement campaigns to raise funds to donate to nonprofits near our U.S. sites that are distributing groceries to food insecure individuals and families.