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ChatGPT has been making an impact on enduring healthcare challenges. Many providers and patients are reporting the artificial intelligence helping with preventative care and preventing non-emergent emergency department visits. Imran Qureshi is chief technology officer at b.well Connected Health, a FHIR-based interoperability platform vendor. He has expertise in AI and a lot of advice to share on the subject of health systems harnessing ChatGPT and other large language model-based technologies. We interviewed Qureshi for a deep dive into how hospitals and health systems can harness ChatGPT and other LLM technologies to improve patient care, how provider organizations can use LLMs to ease clinician workload, and how providers can deploy ChatGPT and LLMs to empower patients. Q. How can hospitals and health systems harness ChatGPT and other LLM-based technologies to improve patient care? A. In the current healthcare landscape, hospitals and health systems are navigating challenging times, with financial pressures exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic's lasting effects. Notable health systems, including Ascension Health, Trinity Health and Providence Health, reported a combined loss of $8 billion in 2022. Concurrently, the healthcare workforce is facing significant attrition; approximately 20% of doctors are planning to leave the profession and more than 170,000 healthcare workers departed their roles in 2021, according to JAMA. This exodus is compounded by the fact that 85% of primary care physicians express a desire to devote more time to patient interactions, per a 2017 survey by Ipsos, yet an analysis by the Journal of General Internal Medicine showed that administrative tasks consume 55% of their workload. Patients, too, are expressing dissatisfaction with their healthcare experiences, with 67% reporting negative healthcare encounters within a three-month period in a 2021 survey by Accenture, and 34% are either switching providers or hesitating to seek future care. The crux of patient discontent lies in the desire for more meaningful interactions with their healthcare providers as expressed in a survey by Deloitte in 2016, emphasizing the importance of quality time and attention. A promising solution to these multifaceted issues lies in the strategic deployment of artificial intelligence, particularly large language models like ChatGPT. By leveraging LLM-based technologies , healthcare can be made more accessible and efficient for both providers and patients. Non-physician healthcare workers, including nurses, aides and therapists, can use these technologies to navigate patient charts, automate responses to common inquiries and facilitate patient care coordination, effectively extending the capabilities of physicians. Moreover, LLMs empower patients and caregivers to engage in self-service for basic healthcare queries, reducing the demand on physicians' time for routine questions. This technology also holds the potential to guide patients through the healthcare system, ensuring timely and appropriate care interventions. With approximately 250,000 primary care physicians and an additional 250,000 non-physician primary care providers in the United States, according to the National Center for Healthcare Workforce Analysis, the redistribution of routine tasks to non-physician staff and directly to patients can significantly enhance the efficiency of patient care. The vast workforce of nine million non-physicians and the collective engagement of 350 million patients and caregivers presents a tremendous opportunity to transform healthcare delivery. The integration of LLM-based technologies into healthcare workflows offers a beacon of hope for addressing the current challenges faced by the industry. By facilitating a more efficient division of labor and enabling patients to take an active role in their healthcare journey, these technologies promise to enhance patient satisfaction and allow healthcare professionals to focus more on direct patient care. This shift toward a more patient-centered approach, supported by advanced AI tools, heralds a new era of improved healthcare outcomes and experiences. Q. How can hospitals and health systems use LLMs to ease clinician workload? A. In today's healthcare environment, primary care physicians are striving for more meaningful patient interactions but find themselves hindered by the extensive administrative tasks required of them. Currently, 85% of these professionals, in a 2017 survey by Ipsos, express a desire to allocate more time to patient care, yet the reality is that less than half of their appointment time is spent on actual patient interaction per the Journal of General Internal Medicine, with nearly two hours weekly dedicated to after-hours documentation, according to JAMA. The root of this issue often lies in the cumbersome nature of EHRs, which are primarily designed for data entry rather than efficient information retrieval. Clinicians frequently spend a significant portion of patient encounters inputting data into these systems and then additional time outside of appointments for data entry. This process is further complicated by the difficulty in extracting information from EHRs, as clinicians must navigate through previous clinical notes due to the inefficiency of the system's design. Implementing LLM interfaces with EHRs could revolutionize this process, enabling clinicians to interact with the system using natural language queries. Such an interface would allow for straightforward questions like "Does this patient have a family history of diabetes?" or "What is the trend of this patient's blood pressure over the past eighteen months?" to be answered efficiently, drawing upon the comprehensive data within the EHR. Furthermore, LLM technologies could automate the documentation process, allowing clinicians to input notes verbally and having the system update the EHR accordingly, thereby minimizing manual data entry. Beyond improving EHR interactions, LLMs could also alleviate clinician workload by handling routine inquiries about health and healthcare logistics. These technologies can engage directly with healthcare staff, patients and caregivers, identifying the nature of inquiries and providing accurate responses or directing them to appropriate humans. This level of triage can significantly reduce the demand on clinicians' time, ensuring they are consulted for more complex issues that require their expertise. By simplifying data entry, enhancing access to patient information, and delegating routine questions to LLM-based technologies , we can substantially lighten the administrative burden on clinicians. This shift not only makes healthcare delivery more efficient but also allows clinicians to concentrate on what matters most – providing attentive, personalized care to their patients. Q. How can hospitals and health systems deploy ChatGPT and LLMs to empower patients? A. Hospitals and health systems have already invested heavily in the development of EHRs, data warehouses and analytical platforms. The advent of LLM technologies, such as ChatGPT, does not necessitate discarding these valuable resources. Instead, these technologies can be integrated into the existing infrastructure, enhancing its capabilities and providing significant benefits to patients. By translating the extensive data within these systems into a format that LLM technologies can understand – essentially creating a knowledge store in plain English – healthcare organizations can overcome the challenges associated with data variability. This approach allows LLMs to interpret and process information from diverse sources and formats, such as different conventions for recording dates of birth, without the need for complex data mapping or standardization. Using LLM technologies offered by leading platforms like OpenAI, Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud, healthcare providers can build upon this knowledge base to deliver precise and accessible answers to a wide array of patient inquiries, drawing directly from the data within the knowledge store. Patients can ask questions and receive answers in plain English instead of having to understand clinical terminology. This LLM architecture can reuse the existing infrastructure in healthcare and add three new pieces: a knowledge store, a language interface and a risk management layer. An LLM architecture starts with all the existing data sources, but instead of spending time and money on converting these to rigid data warehouse schemas, we can convert them to plain text and store them in a knowledge store. In healthcare we've spent more than two decades trying to map all our data to our data warehouses, but very few organizations can claim all their data is available in their data warehouse. How much longer do we continue down the path of rigid data warehouses if 20 years has not been enough? An LLM architecture allows people to query for answers in plain English (or Spanish or any other language). Patients, their caregivers, doctors, nurses, administrators and other workers without technical abilities can now get answers without waiting for data analysts or data engineers to translate their question into database code like SQL. Today, most organizations have a backlog of months or years to provide these answers. A language interface, powered by LLMs , can convert questions asked in plain English into SQL code and extract answers without any involvement by data analysts. To ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of information provided, a risk management layer can be introduced. This layer would involve the use of carefully selected data to screen, refine and answer questions, ensuring sensitive or inappropriate queries are managed correctly. The process includes generating variations of the original question, evaluating the consistency of answers, and incorporating feedback from healthcare professionals to optimize the system's performance. A risk management layer consists of eight steps: Curate – Choose trusted data sources as input to the LLM. Instruct – Instruct the LLM to use only the curated content. Filter – Filter out categories of questions that LLM should not answer. Ask – Query the LLM using the prompt created from the above steps. Evaluate – Rephrase the question multiple ways and check for consensus in answers. Fact Check – Check answers against underlying data. Notify – Notify users that AI was used to answer their question. Learn – Collect feedback from users for reinforcement learning so the LLM gets better over time. This innovative use of LLM technology in an LLM architecture can empower patients and their caregivers with the ability to obtain immediate responses to their questions, ranging from logistical concerns about medical appointments to specific health-related inquiries. Additionally, it enables them to perform straightforward healthcare tasks, such as ordering medication refills or seeking more affordable medication options, without needing to navigate complex healthcare systems. Patients and their caregivers can ask questions like "Am I allowed to drink water before my appointment?", "How much will I have to pay out of pocket for Lipitor (based on my insurance documents)?", "What doctor can help me with my foot pain?", "Should I go to the emergency room or urgent care or my doctor?" and "Is it normal for my mom to spit blood?" Patients and their caregivers can also use the LLM technology to do basic tasks in healthcare without having to learn complex systems: "Order my next refill for Lipitor," "Find me a doctor who treats foot injuries" or "Where can I get this medication cheaper?" There are 350 million patients and their caregivers in the country. Even if we empowered them to do a small part of healthcare, imagine the impact we can have. When patients can self-service some of their questions and requests, we can also reduce the expense of call centers for hospitals and insurance companies. This will also reduce the burden on the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. They can focus on personalized attentive care rather than routine tasks. By integrating LLM technologies with existing healthcare infrastructures, hospitals and health systems can significantly enhance patient engagement and self-management capabilities. This not only improves the patient experience by providing instant access to information and simplifying healthcare tasks but also optimizes the use of healthcare resources and professionals' time. Follow Bill's HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki Email him: bsiwicki@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Continue Reading View PDF Meets 2023 Guidance for Total Revenues, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow[1] Reports 2023 Total Revenues of $15.4 Billion, U.S. GAAP Net Earnings of $54.7 Million, Adjusted EBITDA of $5.1 Billion, U.S. GAAP Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities of $2.8 Billion and Free Cash Flow of $2.4 Billion Reports Third Consecutive Quarter of Operational Revenue Growth on a Divestiture-Adjusted Basis in 2023 and Expects to see Continued Growth in 2024[2] Immediately Adds Two Phase 3 Assets, Selatogrel and Cenerimod, Both With Blockbuster Revenue Potential, Through Global Research and Development Collaboration With Idorsia; Announces R&D Event to be Held March 27, 2024 Completes $250 Million in Share Repurchases to Date in 2024; Board of Directors Increases Share Repurchase Authorization by Additional $1 Billion, Bringing Total Authorization to $2 Billion Board of Directors Maintains Dividend Policy for 2024 of 48 Cents ($0.48) per Share and Declares First Quarter Dividend of 12 Cents ($0.12) per Share Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023. Executive Commentary Viatris CEO Scott A. Smith said: "2023 was an outstanding year for Viatris in which we delivered strong operational results, streamlined the Company and finished the year with our third consecutive quarter of operational revenue growth. As we begin 2024, we are already executing on our vision for our next chapter—balancing the return of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, continuing to fuel our base business and investing in future growth with today's announcement of what we expect will be a strategically significant global research and development collaboration with Idorsia. We remain focused on the many opportunities we see this year and beyond to continue to deliver on our mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life." Viatris President Rajiv Malik said: "As we close Phase 1 of our strategy, I am incredibly proud of all that we have accomplished to integrate, simplify and, more importantly, stabilize the base business. Our strong results in 2023 reflect our consistent operational and scientific execution. Based on the stability of our core business and our deep pipeline, we believe the Company is well positioned for continued growth in 2024 and beyond." Viatris CFO Sanjeev Narula said: "The Company had another solid year, we met our financial guidance and continued to generate strong and durable cash flow. Our substantial cash flow over the last three years has enabled us to execute on our capital allocation commitments in Phase 1 of debt paydown, business development and capital return. We believe we are in a strong financial position with the return to organic revenue growth serving to further strengthen our foundation and position us well for 2024 and beyond." [1] With respect to the 2023 guidance ranges provided on November 7, 2023, Viatris did not provide forward-looking guidance for U.S. GAAP net earnings (loss) or a quantitative reconciliation of its 2023 Adjusted EBITDA guidance. U.S. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities for 2023 was estimated to be between $2.8 billion and $3.1 billion. As previously disclosed, such guidance ranges included the full year expected performance for the planned divestitures and excluded any potential related costs, such as taxes and transaction costs, as well as any similar costs related to the eye care acquisitions, and also excluded any acquired IPR&D. Please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional information. [2] For the quarter ended December 31, 2023, total net sales declined 1% on a U.S. GAAP basis and increased 1% on a divestiture-adjusted operational basis. 2024 Financial Guidance The Company is providing the following financial guidance metrics for fiscal year 2024. The Company is not providing forward-looking guidance for U.S. GAAP net earnings (loss) or U.S. GAAP earnings per share (EPS) or a quantitative reconciliation of its 2024 adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EPS guidance to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures, U.S. GAAP net earnings (loss) or U.S. GAAP EPS, respectively, because it is unable to predict with reasonable certainty the ultimate outcome of certain significant items, including integration, acquisition and divestiture-related expenses, restructuring expenses, asset impairments, litigation settlements, and other contingencies, such as changes to contingent consideration, acquired IPR&D and certain other gains or losses, including for the fair value accounting for non-marketable equity investments, as well as related income tax accounting, because certain of these items have not occurred, are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted without unreasonable effort. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could have a material impact on U.S. GAAP reported results for the guidance period. U.S. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities for 2024 is estimated to be between $2.75 billion and $3.05 billion, with a midpoint of approximately $2.9 billion. Return of Capital to Shareholders Viatris announced that on February 26, 2024, its Board of Directors approved a 2024 dividend policy of 48 cents ($0.48) per share and declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents ($0.12) for each issued and outstanding share of the Company's common stock. The dividend is payable on March 18, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 11, 2024. In February 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 19.2 million shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $250 million, as part of its previously announced $1.0 billion share repurchase program that Viatris' Board of Directors authorized. The Company announced that on February 26, 2024, its Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion increase to the Company's previously announced $1.0 billion share repurchase program. As a result, the Company's share repurchase program now authorizes the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company's shares of common stock. The Company has repurchased a total of $500 million in shares through February 28, 2024, under the program. R&D Event Viatris will hold an R&D Event on March 27, 2024, from 10 a.m. to noon ET, in New York City. The event will include presentations from Viatris executives discussing the collaboration with Idorsia and other elements of the Company's pipeline, as well as presentations from two expert thought leaders. The presenters will be available to answer questions at the end of the presentations. Expert thought leaders presenting at the event are: Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, a top expert in cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology, Director of Mount Sinai Heart. Dr. Bhatt is highly recognized for his significant breakthroughs in the field of cardiology, including interventional cardiology, heart disease prevention, vascular medicine and heart failure. Dr. Anca Askanase, MD, founder and clinical director of Columbia University's new Lupus Center and the Director of Rheumatology Clinical Trials. Dr. Askanase is an internationally renowned clinician, diagnostician and researcher with more than 15 years specializing in complex SLE. Dr. Askanase trained as a rheumatologist at New York University where she remained for more than 15 years on faculty, directing clinical trials, training fellows and residents, and treating challenging cases of SLE at NYU's prestigious hospitals. Interested parties will be able to access a live webcast of the event at investor.viatris.com. An archived version also will be available following the live event and can be accessed at the same location for a limited time. Conference Call and Earnings Materials Viatris will host a conference call and live webcast, today at 8:30 a.m. ET, to review the Company's fourth quarter and full-year 2023 financial results, along with 2024 financial guidance. Investors and the general public are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call at investor.viatris.com or by calling 844.308.3344 or 412.317.1896 for international callers. The "Viatris Q4 and Full-Year 2023 Earnings Presentation," which will be referenced during the call, can be found at investor.viatris.com. A replay of the webcast also will be available on the website. Financial Highlights Fourth quarter 2023 total net sales totaled $3.83 billion, up 1% on a divestiture-adjusted operational basis (as defined in "Certain Key Terms and Presentation Matters" below) compared to fourth-quarter 2022 results. Brands performed in line with expectations, with overall solid year-over-year performance in key brands including Lipitor®, Yupelri® and Dona®. Generics, which include diversified product forms such as oral solids, injectables, transdermals, topicals, and complex generics, performed ahead of expectations due to solid performance across the broader portfolio in Developed and Emerging Markets. The Company generated approximately $107 million in new product revenues (as defined in "Certain Key Terms and Presentation Matters" below) in the fourth quarter (approximately $450 million for the year) primarily driven by Breyna™ in the U.S. The Company had U.S. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities of $479 million in the fourth quarter ($2.80 billion for the year) and generated free cash flow of $314 million in the fourth quarter ($2.42 billion for the year), in each case primarily driven by strong operating results. U.S. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow included approximately $140 million for the fourth quarter ($219 million for the year) of transaction costs primarily related to the eye care acquisitions and the divestitures. The Company paid down approximately $500 million in debt in the fourth quarter (approximately $1.25 billion for the year). The Company remains fully committed to maintaining its investment grade credit rating. Certain Key Terms and Presentation Matters New product sales, new product launches or new product revenues: Refers to revenue from new products launched in 2023 and the carryover impact of new products, including business development, launched within the last 12 months. Operational change: Refers to constant currency percentage changes and is derived by translating amounts for the current period at prior year comparative period exchange rates, and in doing so shows the percentage change from 2023 constant currency net sales, revenues and adjusted EBITDA to the corresponding amount in the prior year. Divestiture-adjusted operational change: Refers to operational changes, further adjusted for the impact of the results from the divested Biosimilars business and proportionate results from the divestitures that closed in 2023 from the 2022 period by excluding net sales from those divested businesses from comparable prior periods, and a reclassification to conform prior year-to-date amounts to current year presentation of divestiture-adjusted operational net sales. Also, for adjusted EBITDA refers to operational changes, adjusted as outlined in the previous sentence and further adjusted for the mark up for the TSA services provided to Biocon Biologics. SG&A and R&D TSA reimbursement: Expenses related to TSA services provided to Biocon Biologics are recorded in their respective functional line item; however, reimbursement of those expenses plus the mark-up is included in other (income) expense, net. For comparability purposes, amounts related to the cost reimbursement are reclassified to adjusted SG&A and adjusted R&D. This reclassification has no impact on adjusted net earnings or adjusted EBITDA. Closed divestitures or divestitures closed in 2023: Refers to the divestiture of the Company's rights to two women's healthcare products in certain countries (other than the U.K., which remains subject to regulatory approval) that closed in December 2023 and the divestitures of the commercialization rights in certain of the Upjohn Distributor markets that closed in 2023. Remaining divestitures or pending announced divestitures: Refers to the remaining announced divestitures that have not been consummated to date, including the divestiture of substantially all of our over-the-counter ("OTC") business, women's healthcare business primarily related to oral and injectable contraceptives, active pharmaceutical ingredient ("API") business in India, and the remaining commercialization rights in the Upjohn Distributor Markets. Non-GAAP Financial Measures This press release includes the presentation and discussion of certain financial information that differs from what is reported under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"). These non-GAAP financial measures, including, but not limited to, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross margins, adjusted net earnings, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow, free cash flow excluding the impact of transaction costs; adjusted R&D and as a % of total revenues, adjusted SG&A and as a % of total revenues, adjusted earnings from operations, adjusted interest expense, adjusted other (income) expense, net, adjusted effective tax rate, constant currency total revenues, constant currency net sales, constant currency adjusted EBITDA, 2022 adjusted net sales ex divestitures, operational change, divestiture-adjusted operational change and adjusted EPS, are presented in order to supplement investors' and other readers' understanding and assessment of the financial performance of Viatris Inc. ("Viatris" or the "Company"). Free cash flow refers to U.S. GAAP net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. Adjusted EPS will be calculated as adjusted net earnings divided by the weighted average number of diluted shares of common stock outstanding. Management uses these measures internally for forecasting, budgeting, measuring its operating performance, and incentive-based awards. Primarily due to acquisitions and other significant events which may impact comparability of our periodic operating results, Viatris believes that an evaluation of its ongoing operations (and comparisons of its current operations with historical and future operations) would be difficult if the disclosure of its financial results was limited to financial measures prepared only in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures are useful supplemental information for our investors and when considered together with our U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure, provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting our operations. The financial performance of the Company is measured by senior management, in part, using adjusted metrics included herein, along with other performance metrics. In addition, the Company believes that including EBITDA and supplemental adjustments applied in presenting adjusted EBITDA is appropriate to provide additional information to investors to demonstrate the Company's ability to comply with financial debt covenants and assess the Company's ability to incur additional indebtedness. The Company also believes that adjusted EBITDA better focuses management on the Company's underlying operational results and true business performance and is used, in part, for management's incentive compensation. We also report sales performance using the non-GAAP financial measures of "constant currency", also referred to herein as "operational change", total revenues, net sales and adjusted EBITDA. These measures provide information on the change in total revenues, net sales and adjusted EBITDA assuming that foreign currency exchange rates had not changed between the prior and current period. The comparisons presented at constant currency rates reflect comparative local currency sales at the prior year's foreign exchange rates. We routinely evaluate our net sales, total revenues and adjusted EBITDA performance at constant currency so that sales results can be viewed without the impact of foreign currency exchange rates, thereby facilitating a period-to-period comparison of our operational activities, and believe that this presentation also provides useful information to investors for the same reason. Divestiture-adjusted operational change refers to operational change, further adjusted for the impact of divestitures that have closed during 2022 and 2023 (including the divestiture of the Biosimilars business in November 2022 and the divestitures closed in 2023) by excluding net sales from those divested businesses from comparable prior periods, and a reclassification to conform prior year amounts to current year presentation of divestiture-adjusted operational net sales. The "Summary of Total Revenues by Segment" table below compares net sales on an actual and constant currency basis for each reportable segment for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 as well as for total revenues, as well as divestiture-adjusted operational change in net sales. Also, set forth below, Viatris has provided reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures. Investors and other readers are encouraged to review the related U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures set forth below, and investors and other readers should consider non-GAAP measures only as supplements to, not as substitutes for or as superior measures to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For additional information regarding the components and uses of Non-GAAP financial measures, refer to Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations--Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of Viatris' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. With respect to the guidance ranges as provided on November 7, 2023, at that time the Company did not provide forward-looking guidance for U.S. GAAP net earnings (loss) or a quantitative reconciliation of its 2023 adjusted EBITDA guidance to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, U.S. GAAP net earnings (loss), because it was unable to predict with reasonable certainty the ultimate outcome of certain significant items, including integration, acquisition and divestiture-related expenses, restructuring expenses, asset impairments, litigation settlements and other contingencies, such as changes to contingent consideration, acquired IPR&D and certain other gains or losses, including for the fair value for non-marketable equity investments, as well as related income tax accounting, because certain of these items had not occurred, were out of the Company's control and/or could be reasonably predicted without unreasonable effort. These items were uncertain, depended on various factors, and could have had a material impact on U.S. GAAP reported results for the guidance period. As previously disclosed, such guidance ranges included the full year expected performance for the planned divestitures and excluded any potential related costs, such as taxes and transaction costs, as well as any similar costs related to the eye care acquisitions, and also excluded any acquired IPR&D. About Viatris Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) is a global healthcare company uniquely positioned to bridge the traditional divide between generics and brands, combining the best of both to more holistically address healthcare needs globally. With a mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life, we provide access at scale, currently supplying high-quality medicines to approximately 1 billion patients around the world annually and touching all of life's moments, from birth to the end of life, acute conditions to chronic diseases. With our exceptionally extensive and diverse portfolio of medicines, a one-of-a-kind global supply chain designed to reach more people when and where they need them, and the scientific expertise to address some of the world's most enduring health challenges, access takes on deep meaning at Viatris. We are headquartered in the U.S., with global centers in Pittsburgh, Shanghai and Hyderabad, India. Learn more at viatris.com and investor.viatris.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter). Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements". These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements about our 2024 financial guidance; key exchange rates used for 2024 guidance; expecting to see continue growth in 2024; immediately adding to phase 3 assets, selatogrel and cenerimod, both with blockbuster revenue potential, through global research and development collaboration with Idorsia; announced R&D event to be held on March 27, 2024; Board of directors increases share repurchase authorization by additional $1 billion, bringing total authorization to $2 billion; as we begin 2024, we are already executing on our vision for our next chapter—balancing the return of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, continuing to fuel our base business and investing in future growth with today's announcement of what we expect will be a strategically significant global research and development collaboration with Idorsia; we remain focused on the many opportunities we see this year and beyond to continue to deliver on our mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life; as we close Phase 1 of our strategy, I am incredibly proud of all that we have accomplished to integrate, simplify and, more importantly, stabilize the base business; our strong results in 2023 reflect our consistent operational and scientific execution; based on the stability of our core business and our deep pipeline, we believe the Company is well positioned for continued growth in 2024 and beyond; our substantial cash flow over the last three years has enabled us to execute on our capital allocation commitments in Phase 1 of debt paydown, business development and capital return we believe we are in a strong financial position with the return to organic revenue growth serving to further strengthen our foundation and position us well for 2024 and beyond; Viatris announced that on February 26, 2024, its Board of Directors approved a 2024 dividend policy of 48 cents ($0.48) per share and declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents ($0.12) for each issued and outstanding share of the Company's common stock, payable on March 18, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 11, 2024; the Company remains fully committed to maintaining its investment grade credit rating; the goals or outlooks with respect to the Company's strategic initiatives, including but not limited to the Company's two-phased strategic vision and potential and announced divestitures, acquisitions or other transactions; the benefits and synergies of such divestitures, acquisitions, or other transactions, or restructuring programs; future opportunities for the Company and its products; and any other statements regarding the Company's future operations, financial or operating results, capital allocation, dividend policy and payments, stock repurchases, debt ratio and covenants, anticipated business levels, future earnings, planned activities, anticipated growth, market opportunities, strategies, competitions, commitments, confidence in future results, efforts to create, enhance or otherwise unlock the value of our unique global platform, and other expectations and targets for future periods. Forward-looking statements may often be identified by the use of words such as "will", "may", "could", "should", "would", "project", "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "potential", "pipeline", "intend", "continue", "target", "seek" and variations of these words or comparable words. Because forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the Company may not realize the intended benefits of, or achieve the intended goals or outlooks with respect to, its strategic initiatives (including divestitures, acquisitions, or other potential transactions) or move up the value chain by focusing on more complex and innovative products to build a more durable higher margin portfolio; the possibility that the Company may be unable to achieve intended or expected benefits, goals, outlooks, synergies, growth opportunities and operating efficiencies in connection with divestitures, acquisitions, other transactions, or restructuring programs, within the expected timeframes or at all; with respect to previously announced divestitures that have not been consummated, including the divestiture of substantially all of our OTC Business, such divestitures not being completed on the expected timelines or at all and the risk that the conditions set forth in the definitive agreements with respect to such divestitures will not be satisfied or waived; with respect to previously announced divestitures, failure to realize the total transaction values for the divestitures and/or the expected proceeds for any or all such divestitures, including as a result of any purchase price adjustment or a failure to achieve any conditions to the payment of any contingent consideration; goodwill or impairment charges or other losses related to the divestiture or sale of businesses or assets (including but not limited to announced divestitures that have not yet been consummated); the Company's failure to achieve expected or targeted future financial and operating performance and results; the potential impact of public health outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics; actions and decisions of healthcare and pharmaceutical regulators; changes in relevant laws, regulations and policies and/or the application or implementation thereof, including but not limited to tax, healthcare and pharmaceutical laws, regulations and policies globally (including the impact of recent and potential tax reform in the U.S. and pharmaceutical product pricing policies in China); the ability to attract, motivate and retain key personnel; the Company's liquidity, capital resources and ability to obtain financing; any regulatory, legal or other impediments to the Company's ability to bring new products to market, including but not limited to "at-risk launches"; success of clinical trials and the Company's or its partners' ability to execute on new product opportunities and develop, manufacture and commercialize products; any changes in or difficulties with the Company's manufacturing facilities, including with respect to inspections, remediation and restructuring activities, supply chain or inventory or the ability to meet anticipated demand; the scope, timing and outcome of any ongoing legal proceedings, including government inquiries or investigations, and the impact of any such proceedings on the Company; any significant breach of data security or data privacy or disruptions to our IT systems; risks associated with having significant operations globally; the ability to protect intellectual property and preserve intellectual property rights; changes in third-party relationships; the effect of any changes in the Company's or its partners' customer and supplier relationships and customer purchasing patterns, including customer loss and business disruption being greater than expected following an acquisition or divestiture; the impacts of competition, including decreases in sales or revenues as a result of the loss of market exclusivity for certain products; changes in the economic and financial conditions of the Company or its partners; uncertainties regarding future demand, pricing and reimbursement for the Company's products; uncertainties and matters beyond the control of management, including but not limited to general political and economic conditions, inflation rates and global exchange rates; and inherent uncertainties involved in the estimates and judgments used in the preparation of financial statements, and the providing of estimates of financial measures, in accordance with U.S. GAAP and related standards or on an adjusted basis. For more detailed information on the risks and uncertainties associated with Viatris, see the risks described in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as amended, Part II, Item 1A of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2023, and Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is expected to be filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024 and our other filings with the SEC. You can access Viatris' filings with the SEC through the SEC website at or through our website and Viatris strongly encourages you to do so. Viatris routinely posts information that may be important to investors on our website at investor.viatris.com, and we use this website address as a means of disclosing material information to the public in a broad, non-exclusionary manner for purposes of the SEC's Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). The contents of our website are not incorporated into this release or our filings with the SEC. Viatris undertakes no obligation to update any statements herein for revisions or changes after the date of this release other than as required by law. SOURCE Viatris Inc.