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 The non-profit Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF) found companies
overall were doing more than in the past to reach under-served
populations, for example by setting lower prices for some drugs and
improving transparency surrounding patents.
But many such strategies address only a limited number of diseases
and are often confined to just a few countries -- principally large
emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.
What is more, research into urgently needed medicines for the
developing world now relies on just a handful of companies, creating
a fragile ecosystem where cutbacks by one player could have a
significant impact on future supplies.
In the case of cancer, specific access initiatives are in place for
only 5 percent of experimental medicines by the time they reach the
market, even though two-thirds of all cancer deaths now occur in
low- and middle-income countries.
By contrast, access plans are established for more than half of
drugs for infectious or communicable diseases at the time of launch,
reflecting a major global drive to improve the rollout of treatments
for conditions such as HIV and hepatitis.
"The gaps are still plenty," said Jayasree Iyer, executive director
of the Amsterdam-based foundation. "It's critical that the
pharmaceuticals industry makes sure its innovations are not leaving
people in the developing world behind."
The AMF's ranking of the world's top 20 drug companies by their
commitment to access, published every two years, placed Britain's
GlaxoSmithKline top for a sixth time, despite recent cuts in its
African operations.
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Switzerland's Novartis, U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson and Germany's
Merck KGaA made up the rest of the top four, followed by Japan's
Takeda Pharmaceutical, which was the biggest riser in the league
table.
Significantly, 63 percent of R&D projects identified as high
priority for people in poor countries are now being conducted by
just five companies -- GSK, Novartis, J&J, Merck KGaA and Sanofi.
The four bottom-listed companies in the access rankings were U.S.
groups Eli Lilly and AbbVie, and Astellas Pharma and Daiichi Sankyo
of Japan.
The index, which is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and the British and Dutch governments, has built up a following
among both drug company executives and investors, who are anxious to
ensure companies meet societal commitments.
It is the first time that the survey has looked in detail at cancer
-- currently the hottest area of pharmaceutical research and one
that has produced some of the industry's most expensive products.
"Some people believe that new, innovative products for cancer will
never reach the developing world -- but we think it will happen and
the companies planning for that will be able to offer the right
medicines to the right people," Iyer said.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Louise Heavens)
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