Managing directors/CEOs of foreign firms in India drew higher remuneration in 2019-20 versus the previous year and overall earnings of peers at Indian firms continued to be way higher in general. CEO-to-employee pay ratios remains stark, reaching over 550 in one case.

The Swiss major says operations have not faced significant disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic but recruitment of patients for new trials, including a high-profile trial of inclisiran, have been impacted.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan outlines how the company is progressing data science and digital transformation across operations, including plans to use predictive analytics to forecast production supply chain runs. The Swiss firm is also monitoring the evolving coronavirus situation closely but has safety stocks for its key products and innovative medicine portfolio and is "okay" for now.