How is the pharma industry addressing health equity?

ESG: To achieve true health equity, pharmaceutical companies must broaden access to medicines regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status.

The latest report from the Access to Medicine Foundation sheds light on how companies are performing in reaching patients around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation, emphasised the urgency of the situation, saying “We have seen that the pharmaceutical industry is making ambitious commitments to reach more patients worldwide. However, this report reveals that there is still much work to be done in achieving meaningful impact and calls for urgent steps to ensure lifesaving products reach every patient, everywhere.”

As the 2024 Access to Medicine Index approaches, the Foundation has scrutinised the patient reach commitments and measurement strategies of the 20 companies slated for ranking in November.

The analysis found that while 19 out of 20 companies have methods to monitor patient reach, only a few have truly comprehensive approaches. Despite numerous industry commitments, only a handful of companies have set bold targets to address diseases with the highest burdens.

Among these companies, 11 – Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Gilead, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Roche – provide insights into their processes for measuring patient reach partially or entirely under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

On the other hand, companies like AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Roche are pushing boundaries with more sophisticated methods that enhance the accuracy of patient reach calculations by incorporating assumptions about treatment adherence.

While many pharmaceutical companies declare ambitious goals and public commitments to expand patient reach globally, especially in LMICs, only a few have set clear, measurable targets aligned with significant global disease burdens.

Johnson & Johnson, for instance, has laid out precise objectives in its Health for Humanity 2025 Goals, aiming to provide access to bedaquiline for 700,000 patients worldwide by 2025, potentially preventing 6,000,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The company reported that by 2022, the drug was available in 158 countries, including all 30 with the highest MDR-TB burden.

There is a significant unmet need for family planning globally, with 164 million women of reproductive age who wish to delay or prevent pregnancy but are not using any form of contraception. Bayer is addressing global family planning needs, reaching 46 million women in LMICs with its access efforts as of 2023.

GSK has also made notable commitments, aiming to provide medicines and vaccines to 1.3 billion people in lower-income countries by 2030, targeting diseases such as malaria, TB, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and HIV/AIDS (through ViiV Healthcare). In 2023, GSK had reached 89 million people with vaccines and antiretrovirals and distributed 989 million doses in these regions.

Despite these strides, the report highlights that there is ample room for improvement. For example, the global insulin market is largely controlled by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, which hold over 90% of the market share. However, their collective efforts cover only 1% of the diabetes prevalence in 113 LMICs, a region where diabetes affects over 350 million individuals out of a global total of 525 million cases.

“While the leading insulin manufacturers have set out specific goals to expand access, the scale of these commitments falls short in adequately meeting the need,” the report states.

Looking forward, there is a significant opportunity for companies to enhance their patient reach strategies and foster collaboration to learn from one another.

The report concludes, “Increasing transparency and integrating patient reach goals and metrics into collaborations will help companies and their partners ensure that more people can benefit from essential health products.”

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