Marijn Verhoef joins workshop on expanding measurement of patient reach

In October 2024, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will host the second in a series of three workshops aimed at standardising access and impact measurement standards among biopharmaceutical organisations. This initiative is part of a broader project to map existing Access and Impact reporting frameworks within the biopharmaceutical sector, with the goal of increasing alignment across stakeholder perspectives by promoting a core set of concepts and metrics to reduce fragmentation and minimise redundancy. 

Attendees will include representatives from companies, regulators, investors, governments, academia, multilateral organisations and standard setters in capital markets. Building on the outcomes of the first workshop, which focused on exchanging perspectives and current approaches to access programme measurement, the key priorities for this more technically focused session are: 

• Reviewing and discussing current frameworks for capturing the impact of company access strategies on people, and brainstorming potential revisions to impact materiality disclosure standards. 

• Reviewing and discussing current frameworks for capturing the effect of access that contributes to social goals on company business performance, along with exploring potential revisions to financial materiality disclosure standards. 

• Reviewing the landscape of existing data sources and discussing strategies for addressing key gaps. 

During the workshop, Marijn will participate in a panel discussion 'Double Materiality of Access' where he will be sharing findings and recommendations from the Foundation’s latest report on how companies measure and report the number of patients reached with their essential products. He will also discuss research from the Index programme, which is conducting more analysis on patient reach for the upcoming Access to Medicine Index, set to launch in November. 

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation  

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a nonprofit organisation that aims to fight poverty, disease and inequity around the world through its work. It is also a funder of the Access to Medicine Foundation. For more information, click here.