GlaxoSmithKline recognised for medicines access initiatives

GlaxoSmithKline has been named as the pharmaceutical industry leader in terms of making its medicines accessible to patients in developing nations.

The UK-based company has topped the Access to Medicine Foundation’s second Access of Medicines Index, maintaining its leadership position from the original 2008 ranking.

Among the criteria on which the firms involved were graded were their management, research, pricing and patenting policies, while their philanthropic activities and overall influence were also considered.

Merck Sharpe and Dohme placed second in the 2010 index, ahead of Novartis, Gilead Sciences and Sanofi-aventis.

Wim Leereveld, the index’s founder, said: “The 2010 ranking reveals important progress, if only because companies have shown far greater willingness to open up. The index unveils great improvements, especially in the areas of research and development and equitable pricing.”

This comes after GlaxoSmithKline confirmed earlier this year that it will be supplying 300 million low-cost doses of its pneumococcal disease Synflorix to poorer nations in the next decade.