3 out of 10 life science companies are not adequately insured

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El sector de ciencias de la vida, aquellos relacionadas con el ámbito farmacéutico, la biotech o los laboratorios, no cuenta con el mejor seguro posible. El informe ‘Global Life Sciences Risk Outlook 2023‘ que ha elaborado WTW destaca que en estos momentos, y en relación con los riesgos meteorológicos, el sector tiene conciencia de la importancia del riesgo ante eventos meteorológicos, «pero muchas empresas parece no tener cobertura para la interrupción del negocio, mientras que una minoría sustancial no tiene cobertura para riesgos meteorológicos extremos en su cadena de suministros», indica el informe.

The life sciences sector, those related to pharmaceuticals, biotech or laboratories, does not have the best possible insurance. The report 'Global Life Sciences Risk Outlook 2023' prepared by WTW highlights that at the moment, and in relation to weather risks, the sector is aware of the importance of the risk of weather events, "but many companies do not seem to have coverage for business interruption, while a substantial minority do not have coverage for extreme weather risks in their supply chain," the report says. 26% of these companies do not have coverage for the disruption of the supply chain in the event of extreme weather and that could paralyze their production, according to these data. Meanwhile, 57% said they are insured for business interruption costs due to weather events. However, of these, 35% only have coverage for property damage, 5% do not know exactly what their policy covers and whether it does, and 2% say they have no property insurance.Intellectual property riskAnother concern in this sector, along with weather risks, is the management of intellectual property risk, which is the "lifeblood of most life sciences businesses," says WTW. The firm's conclusions is that while large companies have sophisticated internal systems to manage these risks, "some mid-market companies may struggle to understand and quantify them".In this regard, it notes that new technologies such as wearables or Artificial Intelligence may change risk profiles and therefore risk management. WTW notes that strategies "have not yet caught up" and highlights that the industry itself "finds it difficult to transfer risks effectively due to a lack of insurance solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the industry".The conclusions of the report is that 69% agree that insuring intellectual property risks "is critical and necessary", but half of the companies acknowledge not having a standardized risk management process for these cases or that it does not work "consistently or effectively".The full report is available here.

According to these data, 26% of these companies do not have coverage for supply chain disruption due to extreme weather that could paralyze their production. Meanwhile, 57% have stated that they are insured against the costs of business interruption due to meteorological events. Even so, 35% only have coverage for property damage, 5% do not know exactly what their policy is and whether it covers this possibility, and 2% say they have no property insurance.

Intellectual property risk

Otra de las preocupaciones de este sector, junto a los riesgos meteorológicos, es la gestión de riesgo de propiedad intelectual que es el «alma de la mayoría del negocio de las ciencias de la vida», resalta WTW. Las conclusiones de la firma es que mientras las grandes empresas cuentan con sofisticados sistemas internos para gestionar estos riesgos, «algunas empresas del mercado medio pueden tener dificultades para entenderlos y cuantificarlos«.

En este sentido, apunta que las nuevas tecnologías como los wearables o la Inteligencia Artificial pueden cambiar los perfiles de riesgo y por lo tanto la gestión de los mismos. Señala WTW que las estrategias «aún no se han puesto al día» y resalta que al propio sector «le resulta difícil transferir los riesgos de manera efectiva por falta de soluciones aseguradoras que se adapten a las necesidades específicas del sector».

Las conclusiones del informe es que el 69% está de acuerdo en que la asegurar los riesgos de propiedad intelectual «es crítico y necesario«, pero la mitad de las empresas reconoce no tener un proceso estandarizado de gestión de riesgos para estos casos o que el mismo no funciona de manera «consistente o efectiva».

The full report is available here.

Source: Aseguranza Group