E-DRUG: The Access to Medicine Index 2012 Launched (3)
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[Further coverage of ATM Index launch - Moderator]
NEWS RELEASE
Companies are developing more products for more diseases that particularly
affect the world's poor, and collaborating more in the process than they
were two years ago. There is more target setting and some now devote as much
as 20% of their pipeline to developing products that address the needs of
the poor. For instance, Sanofi is 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. Meanwhile,
Johnson & Johnson is collaborating to develop a simple portable rapid
screening test for tuberculosis that doesn't need to be operated by a health
professional, requires patients to simply cough into a breathalyser, and
yields results within minutes.
In addition, more companies are using tiered pricing schemes to lower prices
for certain countries or population groups within a country, and applying
them to a broader range of products and in more countries.
However, 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 trial data to be used to accelerate the approval of
generic medicines in developing countries.
An area where current industry performance falls far short of Index
expectations is transparency around the outsourcing of clinical trials to
Contract Research Organisations (CROs). Companies often hire them to conduct
clinical trials on their behalf in developing countries, but no company is
publicly transparent about all the CROs they employ. 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 to ensure that trials of their products are
conducted safely and ethically.
"Access to medicine is a multi-faceted challenge and therefore
responsibility for improving it lies with a number of different actors, but
the pharmaceutical industry has a critical role to play. While the Index
shows it has made strides in many areas, companies that have sector-leading
practices also show us there is more the industry can contribute," Leereveld
said.
- END OF NEWS RELEASE -
Notes for reporters:
The Access to Medicine Index is published by the Access to Medicine
Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands that aims to
advance access to medicine in developing countries by encouraging the
pharmaceutical industry to accept a greater role in improving access to
medicine in less developed countries. The Index methodology was developed,
and is continually refined, in consultation with multiple stakeholders
including the World Health Organization, NGOs, governments and universities,
as well as 30 institutional investors. The Index is funded by the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK
Department for International Development and other charitable organisations.
The scoring and ranking of company performance for the 2012 Index was
conducted by MSCI ESG Research, which provides environmental, social and
governance ratings, screening, analysis, benchmarking and compliance tools
to advisers, investment managers and asset owners worldwide (www.msci.com).
For more information, contact:
Suzanne Wolf
Tel: + 31 6 29 40 40 90 or + 31 23 53 39 187
Email: swolf@atmindex.org Website: www.atmindex.org