Dozens of institutional investors urge drugmakers to link executive compensation to access to medicines

In an article for STAT, Ed Silverman writes about the push by institutional investors for pharmaceutical companies to establish concrete metrics linking executive compensation with policies that widen access to medicine in low- and middle-income countries. In a letter sent to 11 large pharma companies, the investors call for the integration of robust targets and metrics on access to medicine in executive compensation and incentive plans. They urge companies to use the Foundation's Access to Medicine Index as a guide to assess pharmaceutical companies' policies and performance on access to medicine.

Leading investors use the Foundation's insights and analyses to better manage risks and opportunities related to access to medicine and antimicrobial resistance, and to inform direct engagements with investee companies. More than 150 institutional investors have welcomed the development of analytical tools such as the Access to Medicine Index, which may be used by investors to assess pharmaceutical companies’ management of the access to medicine issue, by signing the Access to Medicine Index Investor Statement. Together these investors manage assets in excess of USD 25 trillion. 17 out of 36 institutional investors who signed the letters urging pharmaceutical companies to take action are also signatories of the Index Investor Statement.

Learn more about how the Foundation works with investors here.