The Access to Medicine Index, a biennial report that gauges the efforts of the world’s largest pharma companies to expand access in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), found in this year’s edition that the 20 companies surveyed have firmly responded to access issues exposed by COVID-19. GSK remains at the top of the list, followed closely by Johnson & Johnson and by AstraZeneca.
Pharmaceutical companies have responded to the inequity in access to medicine laid bare by COVID-19.
Jayasree Iyer, CEO, Access to Medicine Foundation
Access as a Strategy
According to the 2022 Access to Medicine Index, a report published every two years by the Access to Medicine Foundation, big pharma companies have stepped up their efforts to address access to medicines issues following the pandemic. For the first time in the report’s 14-year history, all 20 of the companies within its scope have reported defined access strategies with 19 including access in their overall company strategies.
As a result, R&D access planning has improved with plans now in place for 77 percent of the projects approaching the end of the R&D cycle, a figure which is up from 40 percent in last year’s index. “Pharmaceutical companies have responded to the inequity in access to medicine laid bare by COVID-19 – including committing to addressing this in many countries,” said Jayasree Iyer, CEO, Access to Medicine Foundation.
Top ranking for GSK while Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca move up on the list
We have the largest R&D pipeline in the industry addressing global health priority diseases and have committed to invest GBP 1 billion over the next decade in global health R&D.
Emma Walmsley, CEO, GSK
GSK has remained in the lead in the overall ranking for the eighth consecutive time largely due to its R&D efforts to develop treatments for diseases that disproportionally affect LMICs. The British firm also renewed its commitment to confront access issues with the announcement of a GPB 100 million investment earlier this year. “This is recognition of the action we are taking to get ahead of disease together and improve access to medicine and vaccines in lower income countries,” said CEO Emma Walmsley, of the index findings. “We have the largest R&D pipeline in the industry addressing global health priority diseases and have committed to invest GBP 1 billion over the next decade in global health R&D. Alongside this, we have today committed an additional GBP 100 million over the next decade to help build stronger health systems and access in lower income countries.”
Also leading in the R&D category, GSK has the largest pipeline comprised of projects that target well-established treatment priorities. Additionally, the company was recognized in the report, via its majority-owned business HIV business, ViiV Healthcare, for demonstrating a comprehensive approach to expanding access to its HIV products abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine with access strategies that include tailored equitable pricing strategies, voluntary licensing accompanied by technology transfers, and health systems strengthening initiatives in Columbia, India and Uganda.
GSK is followed closely by Johnson & Johnson, bumped up one place from the previous report, and by AstraZeneca, up from seventh place. Merck joined the top five this year, with noted excellence in R&D access planning.
Low-income countries still left out of the equation
“Overall, our latest insights show there has been progress in a few key areas, although the picture is patchy,” said Iyer. Specifically, progress is still inconsistent among low-income countries, which are often overlooked. Only 15 percent of access plans include at least one of the low-income countries in the report’s scope while 85 percent include at least one of the upper-middle-income countries. Upper-middle-income countries are thus six times more likely to be included in access plans for a late-stage R&D project.
The Access to Medicines Index ranks companies on their performance on priority access-to-medicine topics with a total of 31 metrics covering the role of pharmaceutical companies around access to medicine across strategy, compliance, R&D, pricing and product delivery. The data analysed for the report relates to 83 diseases, conditions and pathogens that disproportionately impact people living in 108 LMICs.
