GSK tops list of drug firms improving global access to medicine

Julia Kollewe reports on how GSK can lead the Access to Medicine Index for the fifth time in 2016, while its British peer AstraZeneca climbs into the top 10.

GlaxoSmithKline has come top of a league table that monitors the availability of medicine in developing countries, with fellow UK drugmaker AstraZeneca making it into the top 10.

The non-profit Access to Medicine foundation, which compiles the biennial index of drug companies, warned that while the availability of medicines is improving, the industry needs to do more on affordable pricing and the fight against corruption. Jayasree Iyer, executive director of the foundation, said: “Now is the time to step up those efforts.”

Overall, drugmakers have 850 products on the market for the 51 worst diseases in low and middle-income countries.