Discovery Life Sciences tries to protect employees in Ukraine

The Huntsville-based company has 64 employees in the war-torn country

A photo of Discovery Life Sciences’ location in Kyiv, Ukraine, prior to the invasion by Russia.

Discovery Life Sciences, the world’s largest biospecimen inventory and procurement network, is rallying to try to protect their 64 employees in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The Huntsville-based company is working to help women employees and their families flee Ukraine, while its male employees have been drafted to fight. Some of its employees have been able to flee to Poland already, while others are hoping to leave soon.

Discovery CEO Glenn Bilawsky and company employees here and at its other six locations have implemented several actions to try to ensure the safety of its Ukrainian employees.

Bilawsky has offered to fly employees and their families fleeing Ukraine to any location in the world they prefer.

The company has launched a giving campaign to donate to nonprofit organizations helping those in Ukraine, such as the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and others. In addition, the company is triple-matching those donations.

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The company is also working to get their 501(c)3 status to create a way that donated funds could go directly to their Ukrainian employees. If successful, the company will triple-match any employee cash donations. The company is also allowing its employees to convert their paid time off hours to cash equivalents for donations. This fund would allow for community donations as well.

Several Discovery employees also have opened their homes and offered accommodations so that Ukrainian employees will have a free and safe place to stay.

Discovery Life Sciences is based in HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville.

Discovery Life Sciences, located at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, has, at more than 10 million, the largest repository of biosamples used to accelerate precision medicine programs. The company provides comprehensive genomic services to support research and development, translational and pre-clinical drug and diagnostic programs. 

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