Liberty Remedy: specialist cover for life sciences

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Purpose-built from the ground up, Liberty’s new life sciences product offers tailored coverage that’s easy to understand and easy to rely on

LIFE SCIENCES companies developing new drugs, biologics and implantable devices frequently step into complex global markets with insurance that fits like an off-the-rack suit. Premiums are paid, boxes are ticked, yet the policies that sit alongside lab reports and clinical trial protocols are commonly commercial business packages shoehorned in to cover complex exposures. “In a tight market with constrained options and limited capacity, a lot of what we’re seeing in this space is a lack of choice,” says Alan Thorn, head of casualty specialties for Asia Pacific at Liberty. Liberty has built a different solution: Liberty Remedy for Life Sciences™, a dedicated life sciences insurance product, launching in Australia in March 2026 and designed to support clients from early research through to commercial manufacturing and global distribution. Drawing on years of selectively writing life sciences risks, a regionally based risk engineering team and a connected international network, Liberty has delivered an industry-relevant policy that reduces unnecessary exclusions and aligns closely with how life sciences businesses operate.

Liberty is part of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, a Fortune Global 500 insurer and reinsurer. With more than 110 years of experience, stable financial ratings and over US$50 billion in annual consolidated revenue, our financial strength and mutual status are complemented by our knowledgeable and experienced teams. Liberty operates in 27 countries and employs nearly 40,000 people worldwide, each driven by a common purpose to help people and businesses embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow. In Australia, our 600-plus team partner with insurance brokers to bring value and solutions to Australia’s most significant businesses and government organisations, helping them protect what they earn, build and own.

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Asia-Pacific life sciences market size projections (US$)

2024

“Liberty Remedy offers tailored coverage from a team with deep technical expertise, global connections, local authority and a stated commitment to staying in the market for the long term”

Alan Thorn, Liberty

Liberty has been selectively writing life sciences risks since 2018, starting with medical devices and complementary medicines before expanding into pharmaceuticals. The strategy was to build capability in defined segments before broadening the offering. “We didn’t just wake up one day and say we want to write life sciences,” explains Angelo Maniatis, head of risk engineering at Liberty. “We slowly started bringing together our expertise, capability and knowledge before we actually said, you know what, we can really do something here.” That approach reflects the complexity of the sector. Life sciences demand technical knowledge that general liability expertise alone simply cannot provide. The sector spans everything from early-stage research through to global distribution, encompassing pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, complementary medicines, diagnostics, clinical trials and all the ancillary suppliers who provide ingredients, bottling, labelling and packaging. “It’s not a segment where you can just ‘general liability’ your way through it,” Maniatis says. “It’s far more complicated than your standard CGL [commercial general liability] policies.”

Thorn says. He offers an example: an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufactured in China is shipped to India for use in a generic drug, which is then sent to Australia where a local distributor obtains Therapeutic Goods Administration licensing for sale.

“We didn’t just wake up one day and say we want to write life sciences. We slowly started bringing together our expertise, capability and knowledge before we actually said … we can really do something here”

Angelo Maniatis, Liberty

Liberty’s risk engineering capability sets it apart in the region. The company employs specialist liability engineers based in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, giving it the ability to assess quality systems and supply controls on the ground. This engineering depth allows Liberty to understand clients at an intimate level, ensuring coverage has no gaps while also offering insights from best practices observed elsewhere. Maniatis says risk engineering input is integrated into how risks are assessed, rather than treated as a separate ‘checklist’ step. “There’s a genuine partnership between our technical risk engineers, our claims specialists and our underwriters.”

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Published 23 Mar 2026

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

2031

2032

2033

2034

$17.51 bn

$19.46 bn

$22.08 bn

$24.36 bn

$27.74 bn

$30.88 bn

$34.91 bn

$39.22 bn

$43.93 bn

$48.50 bn

$54.81 bn

Source: www.towardshealthcare.com

Liberty Remedy for Life Sciences™ at a glance

Liberty Remedy is specifically designed for companies researching, developing and marketing technologies and products that diagnose, cure, treat, mitigate and prevent disease in humans and animals.

Liberty Remedy is tailored for:

medical devices

pharmaceuticals

biological medicines

complementary and alternative medicines

analytical laboratories

research and development organisations

therapeutic goods manufacturers

clinical trials

Liberty Remedy incorporates traditional casualty coverages with additional Life Sciences extensions that can provide coverage for Clinical Trials, Product Recall, Statutory Fines and Penalties and more.

The technical complexity of the life sciences sector creates a high barrier to entry. Currently, only a handful of specialists operate in the life sciences space across the region, leaving much of the sector fragmented. Thorn, who has been at Liberty for nearly 20 years, took on his current role 18 months ago with a specific remit: build out a dedicated life sciences capability. The timing aligned with similar initiatives in Liberty’s US, European and Canadian operations, creating a truly global network. “The key thing to emphasise here is, when it comes to life sciences, it’s very much a global, interconnected industry,”

Why most insurers stay away

Liberty’s development process included consultation with brokers, risk managers and insureds. The feedback was consistent: market-standard wordings were too long and difficult to interpret, and insurer choice was very limited, with few players having the depth of capability to comprehensively cover all the needs of businesses operating in the life sciences industry. Liberty’s response was to simplify policy wording while consciously removing exclusions where practical rather than adding them. “The first port of call, when we looked at developing Liberty Remedy, was looking at what exclusions we could remove,” Thorn says. “We wanted to make our coverage broader. We didn’t want to make it narrower.” This approach reflects a broader market philosophy. With so few specialists operating in the space, brokers and clients have had limited options. Liberty aims to change that. “We want to give the market the choice which they didn’t necessarily have in the past,” Thorn says. “We’ve been deliberate in terms of taking our time with the build-out phase. We didn’t want to just come and be another name in the life sciences segment. We wanted to actually have something that was tangible and different.”

A product designed through consultation

Thorn emphasises that the claims proposition matters as much as the policy wording, particularly in a sector where claims can be time-critical, technically complex and financially significant. “The benefit of the insurance policy should always be to allow the business to resume normal operations and focus on what they do best,” Thorn says. Liberty has spent considerable time building out claims capability with the technical expertise this sector demands. It views the insurance as a strategic part of a client’s risk management framework. Thorn also frames Liberty Remedy as part of a measured, long-term commitment to the sector – built gradually rather than pursued opportunistically. “We don’t come into segments, dip our toe in and then run away scared as soon as we actually get the first claim,” Thorn says. “That’s why our approach to life sciences has been measured.”

Claims capability and long-term commitment

Liberty Remedy aims to be what the market needs: a dedicated and comprehensive life sciences product tailored to specific client needs. The product is designed to grow with companies, following them from early R&D through to commercial production and beyond.“We can be there from the very beginning, when they’re actually quite small, and follow them all the way through,” Maniatis says. Liberty Remedy is intended to work for insureds based in Asia Pacific, including their international exposures, while still reflecting local conditions and expectations. Liberty says underwriters in Australia will have local authority to write risks

The Liberty Remedy advantage

without having to refer decisions offshore. This is supported by access to Liberty’s international network, where needed, and claims and risk engineering support that’s also locally available. “Clients for the first time will actually be able to meet their underwriter, risk engineer and claims person when they go out to visit them,” Maniatis says.

With Liberty Remedy launching in Australia in March 2026, Thorn sees significant potential to address existing gaps. “The service standards Liberty holds itself to require our underwriters to be meeting clients and understanding their operations,” he says. “The product itself will continue to develop as the sector shifts. Artificial intelligence and digital health are two areas we know we will need to keep evaluating in order to best meet client needs.” Thorn summarises the philosophy: “We’re not an off-the-rack insurer providing a one-size-fits-all solution for an industry. Instead, Liberty Remedy offers tailored coverage from a team with deep technical expertise, global connections, local authority and a stated commitment to staying in the market for the long term.” For an industry driven by boundary-testing research and cutting-edge science, it’s important the insurance supporting it should reflect the same qualities.

Looking ahead

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Liberty Remedy for Life Sciences™ is a trademark of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

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Glossary

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Life & Health

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Property

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