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Access to Medicine Index

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The Access to Medicine Index is a ranking system published biennially since 2008 by the Access to Medicine Foundation, an international not-for-profit organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It ranks 20 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies according to their ability to make their pharmaceutical drugs more available, affordable and accessible in low- and middle-income countries.[1] The Index aims to stimulate companies to improve access in developing countries, to show the activities of their peers,[2][3] and allow them, governments, investors, civil society, patient organisations and academia to understand how pharmaceutical companies can make further progress. The 2022 Access to Medicine Index was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Axa Investment Managers, and the Wellcome Trust.[4][5]

Ranking

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The latest Access to Medicine Index, published in November 2022, ranked the 20 pharmaceutical companies as follows:[6][5]

Company name (2022 score) 2022 ranking 2021 ranking 2018 ranking 2016 ranking
GSK plc (4.06) 1 1 1 1
Johnson & Johnson (4.03) 2 3 2 3
AstraZeneca plc. (3.93) 3 7 3 2
Novartis AG (3.87) 4 2 11 14
Merck KGaA (3.72) 5 8 7 6
Pfizer Inc (3.62) 6 4 5 15
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd (3.51) 7 6 9 7
Sanofi (3.47) 8 5 4 4
Bayer AG (3.36) 9 13 10 19
Roche Holding AG (3.23) 10 9 6 10
Novo Nordisk A/S (2.97) 11 10 8 11
Eisai Co. Ltd (2.95) 12 11 14 16
Boehringer Ingelheim (2.93) 13 12 16 12
Gilead Sciences (2.84) 14 14 19 20
Bristol Myers Squibb (2.60) 15 19 13 8
Astellas Pharma Inc (2.46) 16 14 12 5
Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd (2.20) 17 16 18 18
Merck & Co. Inc (2.15) 18 15 17 9
AbbVie Inc (1.84) 19 17 20 17
Eli Lilly & Co (1.79) 20 18 15 13

History

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The Access to Medicine Index was developed starting in 2004 on the initiative of Dutch entrepreneur Wim Leereveld.[7] After years of working with the pharmaceutical industry, he concluded that simply "naming and shaming" the industry did not do enough to encourage pharmaceutical companies to play their part in improving access to medicine in the developing world. Leereveld noticed that there were many different (and sometimes conflicting) opinions about what the pharmaceutical industry should be doing with regard to access to medicine, but that there was no tool to recognise good practice within the pharmaceutical industry and no framework for collective dialogue surrounding this issue. He set out to develop a ranking system that would show which pharmaceutical companies do the most to improve access to medicine and how, and also help stakeholders to collectively define companies' role in increasing access to medicine.[7]

The first Access to Medicine Index was published in 2008, followed by new Indexes in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Methodology

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The methodology for the Access to Medicine Index is reviewed every two years, ahead of each analysis. The methodology for the 2024 Index, due for publication in November 2024, was published in October 2023.[8]

The Access to Medicine Index uses a weighted analysis to capture and compare data which the companies provide, as well as publicly available data. The framework is constructed along three areas of focus called "Technical Areas", which cover the range of company business activities considered relevant to access to medicine: Governance of Access, Research and Development, and Product Delivery.[8]

The methodology for the 2024 Index includes a greater focus on 'patient reach'. Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Foundation, said this was settled on “after engaging with various stakeholders, from the World Health Organisation to patient organisations, NGOs, governments, and investors to arrive at a multi-stakeholder consensus.”[9]

Scope

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Company scope

The Access to Medicine Index ranks 20 of the world's largest originator (research-based) pharmaceutical companies, based on market capitalisation and the relevance of their product portfolios to diseases in the developing world. One unlisted company, Boehringer Ingelheim, is also included since it meets the size and portfolio relevance criteria.

In 2008 and 2010, the first two editions of the Access to Medicine Index, companies engaged exclusively in the production of generic drugs were also assessed.[10][11] Based on feedback from the 2011 stakeholder consultations, these companies were excluded from the 2012 Index and subsequent iterations. The Access to Medicine Foundation stated that it recognised that these companies play a significant role in access to medicine, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.[1][12][13][14][15] In 2023, the Access to Medicine Foundation launched a dedicated Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Programme, with its own analytical framework.[16][17]

Geographic scope

The Access to Medicine Index focuses on low- and middle-income countries, based on World Bank and United Nations classifications measuring economic advancement, human development, and relative levels of inequality.[18][19] The 2022 Index measured developments in a total of 108 countries, including countries considered to be low income and lower-middle income countries by the World Bank, and Least Developed Countries as defined by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.[20] In addition, countries classified as low human development countries and medium human development countries by the UN Human Development Index are included. Finally, based on the UN Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index, the index includes countries which, while they may have higher measures of development, have comparatively high levels of socio-economic inequality.[1]

Disease scope

The Access to Medicine Index covers a range of diseases based on their aggregate global disease burden and their relevance to pharmaceutical interventions, in accordance with non-age-weighted WHO Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY)[21] data. In the 2022 Index, the disease scope included 83 diseases, conditions and pathogens identified as the most critical priorities regarding access to medicine.[22]

Product type scope

To reflect the range of available product types for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Index maintains a broad product type scope which draws closely from definitions provided by the G-Finder Report.[23]

Reception

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The Access to Medicine Index has become a frequently cited benchmark for pharmaceutical companies with regard to their access to medicine initiatives. In addition to global media outlets reporting on the Access to Medicine Index and its findings, significant coverage includes:

  • In July 2008, Bill Gates mentioned the Access to Medicine Index in an interview with Time magazine as an example of an incentive that works to give businesses credit for what they are already doing to address the challenges of access to medicine in developing countries.[24]
  • In 2010 Paul Hunt, the former UN special rapporteur on the right to health, described the Index as a way to measure the pharmaceutical industry's progress in line with human rights obligations.[25]
  • A 2010 UBS report called the Index a tool for investors to assess access to medicine specifically and, where necessary, separately from corporate social responsibility frameworks.[26] The Index has received significant attention from investors globally, including in Japan,[27] the UK,[28] Sweden,[29] and Australia.[30]
  • The Access to Medicine Index has been repeatedly cited in scientific journals such as the British Medical Journal,[31][32][33] The Lancet,[34][35][36] The Pharmaceutical Journal[37] and The New England Journal of Medicine.[38]
  • Data from the 2014 Index was used in a study of access to hepatitis C medicines in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.[39]
  • In February 2021, Dag-Inge Ulstein and John-Arne Røttingen, who at the time were Norway's Minister of International Development and Global Health Ambassador respectively, co-wrote an article about urgent actions needed by pharmaceutical companies one year into the coronavirus pandemic, in which they referred to "the new results of the 2021 Access to Medicine Index which point towards best practices and concrete examples of actions that could be applied to help ensure new life-saving vaccines and therapeutics reach low and middle-income countries (LMICs) before it is too late."[40]

Criticism

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The results of the Access to Medicine Index are largely based on company data provided by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. Self-reported data does carry with it an inherent risk, but the Access to Medicine Index also uses dependable external sources to verify data provided by the companies wherever possible. Additionally, it is in companies' best interest to be as forthcoming as possible, as they are a) rated by the index on their degree of transparency and b) rated on their performance every two years, so that failures to meet their commitments and/or inconsistencies over time are likely to be uncovered. Besides, as drug access is only one dimension of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the pharmaceutical industry, it would not be reasonable to evaluate the CSR practices of pharmaceutical companies only using this index.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Access to Medicine Foundation. "The 2017 Access to Medicine Index: Methodology 2018" (PDF). Access to Medicine Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  2. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "What is the Index?". Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. ^ World Health Organization. "Medicines in Health Systems" (PDF). WHO. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. ^ UK Department for International Development. "The Access to Medicine Index: Encouraging global access to health care". DFID News. DFID. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b The Access To Medicine Foundation (December 21, 2021). "The Access to Medicine Index 2021". Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  6. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "2018 Access to Medicine Index" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b Levy, Gideon. "Patents or Patients". AVRO. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  8. ^ a b "New 2024 Index Methodology places greater focus on measuring patient reach". Access to Medicine Foundation. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  9. ^ "Access to Medicine Index 2024 to Prioritise 'Patient Reach'". PharmaBoardroom. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  10. ^ "2008 Access to Medicine Index". Access to Medicine Foundation. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  11. ^ "2010 Access to Medicine Index". Access to Medicine Foundation. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  12. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "Methodology Report 2013 for the 2014 Access to Medicine Index" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  13. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "2012 Methodology Report - Stakeholder Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  14. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "2010 Methodology Report - Stakeholder Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  15. ^ Access to Medicine Foundation. "2008 Methodology Report - Stakeholder Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  16. ^ Datta, PT Jyothi (2023-02-15). "Framework to assess, nudge generic drug makers to expand access to products". BusinessLine. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  17. ^ Iyer, Jayasree (2023-02-15). "Poor countries desperately need better access to generic medicines". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  18. ^ "Least Developed Countries: UN Classification". The World Bank. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  19. ^ "How we classify countries". World Bank. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  20. ^ UN Capital Development Fund. "Least Developed Countries". Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Health statistics and health information systems: DALY". World Health Organization. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  22. ^ "2022 Access to Medicine Index | Access to Medicine Foundation". accesstomedicinefoundation.org. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  23. ^ "G-Finder 2017 - Neglected Disease Research and Development: Reflecting on a Decade of Global Investment". Policy Cures. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  24. ^ Gates, Bill & Kiviat, Barbara (31 July 2008). "Making Capitalism More Creative". Time. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  25. ^ Hunt & Khosla, Paul, Rajat (28 September 2010). "Are Drug Companies Living Up to Their Human Rights Responsibilities? The Perspective of the Former United Nations Special Rapporteur (2002-2008)". PLOS Medicine. 7 (9): e1000330. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000330. PMC 2946950. PMID 20927413.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Global Pharma: Doing well by doing good?" (PDF). UBS Investment Research. Retrieved 18 June 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  27. ^ "【国際】医薬品アクセスインデックス2021、首位GSK。上位企業がさらに躍進。下位との差開く". Sustainable Japan | 世界のサステナビリティ・ESG投資・SDGs (in Japanese). 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  28. ^ Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited, Nomura Global Sustainability Equity Fund Impact Report 2020
  29. ^ "Equitable access to medicine contributes to sustainable growth". sebgroup.com. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  30. ^ "Member Musing - Australian Ethical". Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  31. ^ Yudkin, John S. (2012). "Post-marketing observational trials and catastrophic health expenditure". British Medical Journal. 344: e3987. doi:10.1136/bmj.e3987. PMID 22692653. S2CID 206895448. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  32. ^ Gulland, Anne. "Top drug companies are making more accessible but are also guilty of corruption, report says". British Medical Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  33. ^ Gore, Charles; Morin, Sébastien; Røttingen, John-Arne; Kieny, Marie Paule (2023-09-01). "Negotiating public-health intellectual property licensing agreements to increase access to health technologies: an insider's story". BMJ Global Health. 8 (9): e012964. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012964. ISSN 2059-7908. PMC 10496684. PMID 37669799.
  34. ^ Ali & Narayan, Mohammed K., K.M. Venkat (2008). "The New Access to Medicine Index". The Lancet. 372 (9642): 891. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61396-3. PMID 18790309. S2CID 36253561. Retrieved 11 March 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ Newsdesk (August 2010). "Bridging the gap in access to medicines" (PDF). The Lancet. 10 (8): 514–515. doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(10)70150-x. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  36. ^ Morin, Sébastien; Segafredo, Giulia; Piccolis, Manuele; Das, Aditi; Das, Meghmala; Loffredi, Nicola; Larbi, Amina; Mwamelo, Kim; Villanueva, Elena; Nobre, Sandra; Burrone, Esteban (2023-01-01). "Expanding access to biotherapeutics in low-income and middle-income countries through public health non-exclusive voluntary intellectual property licensing: considerations, requirements, and opportunities". The Lancet Global Health. 11 (1): e145–e154. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00460-0. ISSN 2214-109X.
  37. ^ Connelly, Dawn. "Targeting disease in the developing world". The Pharmaceutical Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  38. ^ Zhou, Albert E.; Travassos, Mark A. (2022-08-11). "Bringing Sickle-Cell Treatments to Children in Sub-Saharan Africa". New England Journal of Medicine. 387 (6): 488–491. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2201763. ISSN 0028-4793.
  39. ^ Edwards; et al. (2015). "Access to hepatitis C medicines". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 93 (11): 799–805. doi:10.2471/BLT.15.157784 (inactive 5 December 2024). PMC 4622162. PMID 26549908.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
  40. ^ "4 principles for urgent pharma action to combat COVID-19". World Economic Forum. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
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