Access to Medicine Index says industry is making ‘moderate progress’

The Pharmaceutical Journal reports on the industry-level findings from the 2016 Access to Medicine Index, including on progress in pro-access licensing, and the static use of equitable pricing.

A total of 2 billion people worldwide cannot get the medicines they need despite “moderate progress” by the pharmaceutical industry to improve access over the past two years, according to the latest Access to Medicine Index.

The index, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK and Dutch governments, is published every two years and ranks the top 20 global drug companies according to the efforts they make to improve access to drugs in developing countries.

The 2016 index acknowledges improvements in the way access to medicines is organised and says drug companies are investing in developing drugs that are needed most but that this good practice is limited…