Sanofi Global Health Unit: how companies demonstrate movement on key opportunities identified by our research

Many of the world’s low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still do not benefit significantly from access strategies being implemented by the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The 2021 Access to Medicine Index showed that fewer than half of key products controlled by the 20 companies in scope were being offered through access strategies in countries classified by the World Bank as either lower-middle income countries or low-income countries. The shortfall was found to be particularly acute in low-income countries, which are most consistently overlooked by companies despite being home to almost 700 million people.

In the 2021 Index, Sanofi performed below average in the area of Governance of Access. Following the launch, Sanofi decided to expand its social commitments, in April 2021, by creating a non-profit unit to provide the poorest countries with access to essential medicines.

Continuing its efforts to improve access in LMICs, the Sanofi Global Health Unit launched a non-profit Impact® brand for 30 medicines in low-income countries in July of 2022.

Sanofi declared that the products will cover therapeutic areas such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, malaria and cancer. The medicines will include insulin glargine, a long-acting analogue recently added to the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines, which is also a product directly referenced in the 2021 Access to Medicine Index as part of a key opportunity for Sanofi to apply an equitable pricing strategy to specifically in low-income countries to improve access and affordability. Thibaud Lefort, Head of Operations of Sanofi Global Health, directly acknowledged the Access to Medicine Index's impact on Sanofi's operation and creation of this new unit in September 2021 at a high-level event.