Top Pharma Companies Boost Access to Drug Development Pipeline

Eight top pharmaceutical companies are moving to systematically enhance their drug development pipeline, with plans to boost access to products in low-and middle-income countries, according to the 2021 Access to Medicine Index.

Researchers found that overall, individuals in low- and middle-income countries face more than 80 percent of the global burden of diseases. Advanced planning during clinical development allows companies to accelerate the speed at which new products become accessible in poorer countries.  

Novartis was the first company to develop a systematic access planning approach. It is now joined by GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Takeda, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Pfizer. 

“Too many people lack access to innovative health products emerging from R&D pipelines. After years of encouraging access planning, we are now seeing a strategic shift in this direction by pharma companies,” Jayasree K. Iyer, executive director of the Access to Medicines Foundation, said in the Index report.

“This could radically change how fast access to new products is achieved – if company leadership is determined to ensure people living in low- and middle-income countries are not last in line,” Iyer continued. 

In general, access plans cover affordable pricing, product registration in countries with higher disease burden, and license agreements that allow manufacturers to make generic versions of products. 

But currently, only 59 percent of candidates addressing established research and development priorities have evidence of an access plan compared to 31 percent of candidates targeting other diseases of product gaps.  

In the Index report, GSK landed the top spot as the company with the most candidates covered by access plans, followed by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Takeda, Novartis, and Sanofi, respectively.

An example of good practice, according to researchers, is GSK’s systematically developed access plans for all projects once Phase 2 clinical trial results are positive. The company also stands out for its research and development focus, as well as its clear strategy for addressing access to medicine.

And although GSK tops the Index, its lead on Novartis is notably narrower than in 2018, researchers said. For example, Novartis surpasses GSK in product delivery, including pricing, licensing, donations, and capacity building in low-and middle-income countries.

Additionally, it is the only company on the list to demonstrate that it applies equitable access strategies in low-income countries, researchers explained. 

Pfizer was recently added to the Access to Medicine Index ranking, rising from the bottom half of the ranking to the top five since last year. The company landed just behind GSK, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson. Sanofi follows in fifth, Takeda in sixth, AstraZeneca in seventh, and Merck in eighth. 

Researchers noted Pfizer’s strong performance in access strategies and capacity building, as well as access planning in the research and development phase. But unlike GSK’s access plan, Pfizer requires access planning to start for all products two years before the product is launched.

The Access to Medicine Index is an independent ranking of 20 of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and their initiatives to improve access to medicine globally.  

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria were the top diseases that pharmaceutical companies focused on in 2020, with COVID-19 added to the list as well. These diseases accounted for over half of the projects in the disease pipeline.

Additionally, cancer accounted for more than two-thirds of the project pipeline.

Researchers also highlighted that currently just 13 percent of the products that must be administered by a healthcare practitioner and 26 percent of self-administered products are offered through access strategies in low-income countries. 

COVID-19 has been one of the main focuses for research and development since the start of the pandemic. The Index found that the portfolio of experimental drugs and vaccines has filled up for coronavirus patients, but remained empty for other pathogens that are a pandemic risk. 

The 2021 Index also assessed companies on their actions to improve equitable access to products on the market and make new products available. 

In total, the Index covers 82 diseases, including conditions and pathogens, common killers, lower respiratory tract infections, diarrheal diseases, maternal health conditions, and cancers.