E-DRUG: Access to Medicine Index 2021 launched
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[We look forward to e-druggers discussion following this launch. BS]
Dear E-drug colleagues,
The Access to Medicine Index 2021 was launched
today, Tuesday, 26 January. It is now live on our website:
http://www.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/
It is the result of two years of methodology review, stakeholder input, company input, data collection, analysis and writing. Thanks to all those who contributed to this.
I've included a high-level summary of the Index in this mailing, and some of
the headline key findings for this report. This year, the Index also
captures how the world's largest pharmaceutical companies are responding to
COVID-19, particularly when it comes to pandemic preparedness.
I am happy to respond to any questions about our findings.
KEY FINDINGS AT A GLANCE:
- Eight companies are moving to systematically pair candidates in
their R&D pipelines with plans for making them accessible in low- and middle
-income countries soon after the products are launched onto markets.
Late-stage pipelines are not yet fully covered by access plans.
- Companies are addressing access for the poor for less than half of
key products analysed. Low-income countries, as classified by the World
Bank, are most consistently overlooked.
- The pipeline of medicines and vaccines has filled up for
coronavirus patients (from zero to 63 projects) yet is virtually empty for
other pathogens that pose a pandemic risk, such as Nipah, Zika and SARS.
The 20 companies have empty pipelines for ten of the 16 emerging infectious
diseases (EIDs) identified by WHO and others.
RANKING
GSK retains the No. 1 position, yet only slightly ahead of Novartis. The
leaders are followed by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Sanofi. The two
leading companies are in close competition, both providing evidence that
additional patients were reached through access strategies such as
equitable pricing and voluntary licensing initiatives. GSK's performance in
R&D is a significant factor in its retention of the top spot. It has access
plans covering the largest proportion of late-stage projects (20/25).
Novartis closes in on the No. 1 position through its performance in Product
Delivery, and stands out for being the only company to apply equitable
access strategies in at least one low-income country for all products
assessed. Pfizer is newly in the top 5, and leads when it comes to
addressing access to self-administered products across different regions
and socio-economic groups, also demonstrating increases in patient reach.
Near the bottom of the ranking, Astellas, AbbVie and Daiichi Sankyo are the
only companies that do not have an access-to-medicine strategy with a
business rationale. Bristol Myers Squibb takes the bottom rank with limited
evidence of access initiatives across the areas measured.
PROGRESS
In 2021, the Index finds that pharmaceutical companies continue to inch
forward when it comes to embedding access to medicine into business
practices in low- and middle-income countries. There are signs of progress
in a range of areas, from the setting of access-related performance
incentives, to processes to ensure access to future products, to efforts to
evaluate the impact of access initiatives. Yet actions to address access to
specific products remain focused on a few products and a few countries,
with the same handful of emerging markets benefiting most often. As in
2018, a small number of diseases are the main focus of companies' R&D
activity, with cancers accounting for more than two thirds of projects
analysed. Among infectious diseases, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
once again receive most attention, with COVID-19 newly joining the group in
2020. A small group of companies once again account for the bulk of the R&D
projects that the global health community considers a priority,
underscoring a worrying dependency on just a few large players.
INDUSTRY RESPONSE TO COVID-19
The pandemic has led to an increase in COVID-19 R&D, yet there is little
evidence of preparedness for the next pandemic, particularly when it comes
to R&D for other EIDs. The pandemic has emphasised the need for a diverse
range of private and public sector entities to engage in EID research well
before epidemics break out. The pandemic has also revealed some companies'
agility, for example in leveraging existing networks to support local
pandemic responses, and in responding to actual or projected supply chain
disruptions. However, the benefits for people in low- and middle-income
countries have been unequal and limited. Ending a pandemic requires
suitable products to be developed and then fairly distributed so that
people in low- and middle-income countries are not last in line or left
behind altogether.
As always, we are more than happy to engage on all of our results, respond to questions, schedule meetings, etc.
All the best,
Claudia Martinez
Research Programme Manager
Access to Medicines Foundation
cmartinez@accesstomedicinefoundation.org