[Ip-health] Drug Makers Differ Strongly in Policies for Low-income Countries

[Matt Price]

http://www.atmindex.org/news/drug_companies_differ_strongly_in_policies_for=
_low-income_countries

Drug Makers Differ Strongly in Policies for Low-income Countries
Index lets investors select most socially responsible producers

HAARLEM, THE NETHERLANDS (June 16, 2008) =97 The world's largest
pharmaceutical companies differ strongly in their efforts to provide
millions of people in low-income countries with better access to
affordable drugs and vaccines.

Some major companies are making solid strides, for example by
developing new medicines against previously neglected diseases, says
the Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent non-profit
organization that unveiled a global Access to Medicine Index today.
At the same time, other companies are lagging behind in adapting
similar policies.

"Rather than looking at the pharmaceutical industry as a black box,
the Access to Medicine Index finds good practices within individual
companies and holds them up as shining examples to others," said Wim
Leereveld, the Index' founder.
The Index will also give governments, researchers and NGOs that work
to increase poor people's access to healtcare the opportunity to find
suitable industry partners, he added.
New tool for socially responsible investors

The Access to Medicine Index measures and rates efforts by individual
drug companies to increase the number of people that have access to
effective and affordable medicine. The Index ranks twenty of the
world's largest drug companies, offering investors and other
stakeholders a new and powerful tool with which to take pharmaceutical
companies' social responsibility record into account.

The first Access to Medicine Index identifies GlaxoSmithKline (United
Kingdom) as current industry leader when it comes to improving access
to drugs and vaccines. Following in its footsteps are Novo Nordisk
(Denmark), Merck & Co. (NJ, USA), Novartis (Switzerland), and
Sanofi-Aventis (France).
Eight criteria

The Access to Medicine Index rates dozens of indicators grouped into
eight main criteria. These include companies' management of policies
increasing access, the amount of research and development in the
'neglected diseases' area, patenting and licensing policies and the
use of fair pricing systems. The intricate methodology was developed
after extensive consultations with representatives from governments,
research, NGOs and drug companies.

"For global pharma companies, managing access to medicine is a complex
and daunting challenge," commented Matthew Kiernan, CEO of Innovest
Strategic Value Advisors, which carried out the Index research; "We
view companies who do it best as better managed and more far-sighted
overall, and therefore more attractive to strategic, long-term
investors."

=97
About access to medicine

One out of three people on the planet lacks good access to essential,
reliable and affordable medicine. According to estimates, increasing
such access could save the lives of 10 million people each year. The
Access to Medicine Foundation believes the responsibility to increase
access is shared by all, including pharmaceutical companies, which own
vital pieces of knowledge, technology and infrastructure.
About Socially Responsible Investing

The Access to Medicine Index is at present supported by twelve of the
world's leading institutional investors, together managing assets
worth more than USD 1.2 trillion. They have welcomed "the project's
efforts to develop a tool which [..] may be useful to assess the
long-term value of pharmaceutical companies."
About the Access to Medicine Foundation

The Access to Medicine Foundation is a fully independent, non-profit
organization based in The Netherlands. Up until now, the foundation
has received funding from the European Agency for the Development and
Health (Aedes), the UK Department for International Development
(DFID), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), Rabobank, SNS
Reaal, Oxfam Netherlands, Cordaid, the Interchurch organization for
global development (ICCO) and the Humanist Institute for global
development (HIVOS).
About Innovest Strategic Value Advisors

The Access to Medicine Index is published by the Access to Medicine
Foundation. Research for the Index was carried out by Innovest
Strategic Value Advisors (NY, USA), a global investment research firm
specializing in sustainability indicators. Leading global health
experts contributed to the development of the Index; its methodology
will be reviewed each year.