Performance by Technical Area

Has a strong access-to-medicine strategy with board-level responsibility. GSK is one of 14 companies that performs strongly with regards to its access-to-medicine strategy, which includes access-related goals, and aligns with its corporate strategies. The strategy centres around improving access to medicine and strengthening health systems in countries in scope by developing partnerships focused on access, such as ViiV Healthcare. The highest level of responsibility for access sits with a board-level committee.

Financial and non-financial access-related incentives to reward employees. GSK performs strongly in encouraging employees to work towards access-related objectives. It is one of 14 companies to have both financial and non-financial incentives in place to motivate employees to perform on access-related issues. These incentives include a variable pay system linked to long-term results, bonuses and rewards. Senior management has a separate incentive that supports the company's long-term access oriented objectives.

One of the 16 companies working on impact measurement. GSK measures and monitors progress and outcomes of access-to-medicine activities. It also publicly reports on commitments, targets and performance information. For example, for its partnerships with Amref Health Africa, CARE International and Save the Children, GSK reports reaching its goals on helping underserved people by training 65,000 frontline health workers. Furthermore, it is one of the companies that is measuring impact by reporting on the progress of its Save the Children partnership. 

Clear stakeholder engagement approach that includes local stakeholders. GSK performs well when it comes to the disclosure of its stakeholder engagement. It publicly discloses which stakeholder groups it engages with on access issues, but does not publicly share its process for selecting who to engage with. It does incorporate local stakeholder perspectives into the development of access strategies. It has some policies covering responsible interactions with stakeholders, namely to operate with integrity and transparency with local stakeholders, following its standard for interacting with patient organisations.

Has measures to ensure third-party compliance with ethical marketing and anti-corruption standards. GSK leads in the area of ethical marketing and anti-corruption governance. It has a code of conduct relating to ethical marketing and anti-corruption, and provides annual compliance training for employees. The company provides evidence of having formal processes in place to ensure compliance with standards by third parties. Sales agents' rewards are not solely based on sales targets. Instead, it rewards other qualities such as technical knowledge and quality of service. 

Internal control framework meets all Index criteria. GSK has all the components of an effective internal control framework to ensure compliance. Namely, it reports that it regularly conducts fraud-specific risk assessments. It also has a monitoring system in place to track compliance in the workplace; it conducts audits involving both internal and external resources—that also applies to third parties. GSK also demonstrates evidence of having procedures to segregate duties, so that decisions are checked by another party.

Above average transparency regarding access-related practices. GSK publicly discloses its policy positions on access-related topics. For example, it has a policy on intellectual property and access to medicine for developing countries. It is one of the few companies in scope to have a policy that prohibits political contributions. GSK discloses its membership of relevant institutions and whether it provides financial support. It discloses its policies for responsible engagement, including responsible lobbying. During the period of analysis, GSK was the only company to have a policy prohibiting payments to healthcare professionals to attend and speak at conferences. 

Publicly commits to R&D to meet public health needs. GSK has publicly committed to R&D for diseases and countries in scope. Its R&D strategy for low- and middle-income countries is informed by an evidence-based public health rationale with each commitment developed in response to public health needs in these countries. Further, it has time-bound strategies for completing R&D projects for diseases in scope and evaluates progress toward these targets. GSK has one of the largest pipelines in the Index with 86 projects. For diseases in scope where priorities exist, GSK is active in 60 projects; 58 of these target priority R&D gaps.

Access provisions in place for 68% (32/47) of late-stage candidates. GSK has a clear process in place to develop access plans during R&D. The process considers all R&D projects for diseases in scope when possible. In general, GSK develops access plans for R&D projects in Phase II of clinical development, and it develops equitable pricing strategies in Phase III. To date, GSK has the highest number of project-specific access provisions, with 32 in place for its late-stage R&D projects. Of these, 19 are being conducted in partnership.

Public policy to ensure post-trial access; commits to registering trialed products. GSK has a publicly available policy for ensuring post-trial access to treatments for clinical trial participants and has provided a detailed example of this policy in action in countries in scope. The policy is aligned with the standards set in the Declaration of Helsinki. Once a product is approved, GSK commits to registering it in all countries where clinical trials for the product have taken place.