GSK tops table for access to medicines in developing countries
Johnson & Johnson is one of the most dramatic risers, moving up from ninth to second
GlaxoSmithKline has once again come top of an analysis that ranks the top 20 pharmaceutical companies on their ability to improve access to medicine in developing countries, while the industry as a whole is doing more than it was two years ago.
The Netherlands-based Access to Medicines Foundation, says that 17 out of the 20 companies assessed are performing better than they did in 2010. The Foundation has published its Access to Medicines Index 2012, which found that Johnson & Johnson was one of the most dramatic risers, up from ninth position two years ago to second, ‘closely behind’ GlaxoSmithKline, which stayed at the top.
The report says this rise is due largely to Johnson & Johnson’s consolidation of its access activities under one business unit, which has resulted in ‘a more strategic and integrated approach’, and to its acquisition of vaccine maker Crucell. Sanofi was third.
The Index reveals that the companies that rose in rank the most were Merck KGaA, followed by Johnson & Johnson, and then Bayer. AstraZeneca fell down the rankings most significantly, followed by Boehringer-Ingelheim, then Novartis and Roche. Japanese companies Takeda, Daiichi and Astellas dominate the bottom of the league according to the report.
Some companies now devote as much as 20% of their pipeline to developing products that address the needs of the poor
The analysis says there is more target setting and some companies now devote as much as 20% of their pipeline to developing products that address the needs of the poor. It highlights Sanofi for adapting its leishmaniasis drug, which currently requires health workers to administer repeated injections, to develop a product that patients can apply to their skin at home. Also Johnson & Johnson is collaborating to develop a simple portable rapid screening test for tuberculosis that does not need to be operated by a health professional, requires patients to simply cough into a breathalyser, and yields results within minutes.
However, the Index claims that there are still several areas ‘where all companies could improve their approaches significantly’. These include being more transparent about their lobbying practices, expanding their tiered pricing schemes, adapting packaging to local needs, making their drug donations more needs-based, and allowing their clinical trials data to be used to accelerate the approval of generic medicines in developing countries.
Current industry performance falls far short of expectations in the outsourcing of clinical trials to CROs
The report says an area where current industry performance falls far short of expectations is around the outsourcing of clinical trials to Contract Research Organisations (CROs). The report states that ‘company accountability involves ensuring the wellbeing of trial participants through adequate due diligence in selecting these contractors, monitoring how they conduct the trials and willingness to enforce codes of conduct with disciplinary action’. However, only four companies (Merck & Co., Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and Eisai) provided evidence that they use disciplinary measures to enforce codes of conduct with their CROs.
Wim Leereveld, founder and CEO of the Access to Medicine Index, said: ‘This year’s Index shows that companies are becoming more organised internally in their approach to access to medicine and that those who do this best tend to perform well across the other aspects we measure. The leaders are really raising the bar.’
The Access to Medicine Index, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK Department for International Development and other charities, grades companies on more than 100 factors, including whether they are developing new drugs for neglected diseases, to what extent they facilitate or resist efforts to create generic versions of their drugs, and how they approach pricing in developing countries. Lobbying activities, marketing ethics and product donations and other philanthropic activities are also tracked.