Pharma industry improves access to medicines in developing world

Financial Times

16 May 2019 - Pharmaceutical companies have made good progress in promoting global health over the past 10 years by providing more and better medicines to the developing world, according to an independent assessment of their performance.

The study by the Amsterdam-based Access to Medicine Foundation comes at a time when the pharmaceuticals industry is facing widespread criticism from campaigners who say that companies’ overwhelming priority is to maximise returns to shareholders at the expense of public health.

Access to Medicine, funded by the UK and Dutch governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, analysed the world’s 20 largest drug companies, including their corporate strategy, research and development activities, pricing and patent policies. The so-called Big Pharma companies account collectively for 70% of global pharmaceutical revenues.

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Michael Wonder

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Michael Wonder