Responsible business practices give leading edge in Governance of Access
GSK and Takeda lead, followed closely by Novartis. All three demonstrate strong responsible business practices either by enforcing stringent compliance processes across their operations or by setting viable staff incentives.
| 1 | GlaxoSmithKline plc |
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4.59 | |
GlaxoSmithKline plcRead more |
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| 1 | Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. |
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4.59 | |
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.Read more |
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| 2 | Novartis AG |
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4.39 | |
Novartis AGRead more |
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| 3 | AstraZeneca plc |
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4.32 | |
AstraZeneca plcRead more |
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| 4 | Johnson & Johnson |
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4.25 | |
Johnson & JohnsonRead more |
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| 5 | Novo Nordisk A/S |
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4.12 | |
Novo Nordisk A/SRead more |
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| 5 | Pfizer Inc. |
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4.12 | |
Pfizer Inc.Read more |
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| 6 | Roche Holding AG |
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4.08 | |
Roche Holding AGRead more |
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| 7 | Merck KGaA (Merck) |
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3.75 | |
Merck KGaA (Merck)Read more |
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| 8 | Bayer AG |
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3.55 | |
Bayer AGRead more |
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| 8 | Eisai Co. Ltd. |
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3.55 | |
Eisai Co. Ltd.Read more |
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| 9 | Astellas Pharma Inc. |
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3.46 | |
Astellas Pharma Inc.Read more |
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| 10 | Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH |
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3.28 | |
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbHRead more |
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| 11 | Sanofi |
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3.05 | |
SanofiRead more |
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| 12 | Gilead Sciences Inc. |
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2.89 | |
Gilead Sciences Inc.Read more |
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| 13 | Eli Lilly & Co. |
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2.85 | |
Eli Lilly & Co.Read more |
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| 14 | Merck & Co., Inc. (MSD) |
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2.80 | |
Merck & Co., Inc. (MSD)Read more |
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| 15 | Bristol Myers Squibb Co. |
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2.70 | |
Bristol Myers Squibb Co.Read more |
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| 16 | Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. |
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2.54 | |
Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.Read more |
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| 17 | AbbVie Inc. |
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2.52 | |
AbbVie Inc.Read more |
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The ranking above shows the position and score of each company in the 2021 Index. Click on a company's name to go to its full report card.
At a glance
- More than half of the companies incorporate access to medicine into their business strategy across all their therapeutic areas.
- More than half of the companies provide managers and senior executives with incentives to achieve access-to-medicine goals.
- Over half of the companies have incentives that are not wholly linked to sales in order to limit the the risk of mis-selling or over-selling products.
- Eight companies demonstrate best practice by applying all the processes looked for by the Index for checking and detecting non-compliance.
Breakdown
Responsible business practices give top-performing companies the leading edge
GSK and Takeda lead, followed closely by Novartis. All three demonstrate strong responsible business practices either by enforcing stringent compliance processes across their operations or by setting viable staff incentives.
Out of 20 companies assessed, 17 have established an access to medicine strategy with measurable objectives. The top five companies have an access-to-medicine strategy which consistently transcends all therapeutic areas they are involved in. This pack of companies also have access-related incentives in place for senior managers, including CEOs.
Mid-performing companies deliver mixed results. Overall, they lack one or more control mechanisms looked for by the Index to mitigate the risk of non-compliance within their operations in low- and middle-income countries, including contracted third parties. They perform relatively poorly when it comes to transparency on transfers of values made to healthcare professionals in countries in scope.
Companies with a low performance in this Technical Area merely have general commitments to improve access to their products, but have no concrete strategy embedded in their business model.
Best practice
What does best practice look like?
The companies demonstrating best practice in Governance of Access are proactive in implementing solid company-wide compliance controls and audits to reduce corruption risk across their business operations, including third-party collaborations.
Board-level committees are directly responsible for promoting and rewarding the effective access strategies for their portfolio, ensuring that the access to medicine mindset starts at the top level and is embedded into their business decisions, even in their employee performance reviews.
In addition, companies performing strongly in Governance of Access are actively engaged in measuring the progress and outcomes of their access to medicine initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. This, in turn, enables them to establish systematic frameworks to evaluate their long-term impact on patient populations and national health systems, alike. Particular attention is paid to increasing access to innovative medicines in sub-Saharan Africa, home to a considerable number of underserved communities.
Scope of analysis
Governance & Strategy; Responsible Business Practices
As pharmaceutical companies search for new opportunities in low- and middle-income countries, they have a responsibility to also increase access to their products for people on lower incomes. Achieving this balance requires companies to view access to medicine as a strategic issue, and to manage it as such. Companies also need to promote ethical marketing practices and ensure compliance with each country’s regulatory and anti-corruption laws, while demonstrating transparency in reporting their business outcomes.
Governance of Access touches upon two major topics: Governance and Strategy and Responsible Business Practices. This Technical Area looks at the governance, planning, implementation and integration of access to medicine initiatives into the companies’ overall corporate strategy and the extent of staff incentivisation towards fostering access to medicine.
It also explores the companies’ ethical marketing and disclosure policies as well as their measures to prevent any corrupt or non-compliant activity in their business operations that could hinder progress in access to medicine.
