06/25/2008

Access to medicines in developing countries is one of the biggest challenges currently facing pharmaceutical companies. Ethos and several other institutional investors are aware of this and therefore support the Access to Medicine Index, an international initiative whose goal is to measure and compare how the different pharmaceutical companies approach policy on access to medicines. Roche and Novartis are singled out for their conservative position on patent protection.

The pharmaceutical industry has a major role to play in guaranteeing access to medicines worldwide. It is in this context that a Dutch foundation launched the Access to Medicine project in 2007. The aim is to make available to the stakeholders concerned, in particular the investment community, a database dealing specifically with the issue of access to medicines. By indexing companies, this approach allows corporate strategies relating to policy on access to medicines to be compared.

Enhancing dialogue on access to medicines
The criteria used to establish the index go further than the charitable dimension to which the issue was previously limited and encompass broader aspects (strategy, management, research and development policy, patent policy) and the requirement of transparency (lobbying, equitable pricing, donations and philanthropy).
The new index will enable Ethos and any other investors concerned by the issue to enhance the ongoing dialogue started with the pharmaceutical companies several years ago.
European companies top the list
It is the British company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) which clearly tops the list of 20 companies selected for this first international comparison.
The Swiss companies Novartis and Roche are also near the top. Novartis is commended for the research on neglected diseases conducted by its tropical disease research centre in Singapore. Roche plays an active role by supporting various research undertakings. For example, it has ceded its rights and technology in the fight against Chagas disease, a parasitic illness, to the Brazilian Government.
When it comes to the criteria relating to patents and licencing, however, the two Swiss companies score below average. They struggle to make civil society accept the importance of protecting patents and research, in order to ensure for itself the production of quality medicines, in the face of pressing demands for low-price generic products for the underprivileged.
The outcomes are available at www.atmindex.org. For additional information, please contact:
Access to Medicine Index
Martijn van Rijnsoever, Project Manager
mvrijnsoever@atmindex.org
www.atmindex.org
T +31 (0)23 53399187

Ethos
Jean Laville, Executive Deputy Director
info@ethosfund.ch
www.ethosfund.ch
T +41 (0)22 716 15 55 

 

News
Sustainable development