Access to Medicine Index flags slowing momentum, especially in LMICS

The Access to Medicine Foundation, has recently released an Index ranking and evaluating 20 of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies according to their efforts to expand access to their products for people living in low-and middle-income countries. The 2024 Index highlights that, despite progress in several areas, the overall momentum has slowed compared to the previous Index

Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index evaluates 20 of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies according to their efforts to address access to medicine for people living in low-middle-income countries (LMICs), where access gaps are the greatest. By ranking companies on their performance on priority access-to-medicine topics across three Technical Areas: Governance of Access, Research & Development (R&D), and Product Delivery, the Index aims to identify Best Practices, track progress, and highlight where critical action is needed to address shortcomings. In this ninth iteration of the Index, Novartis ranks as the top company for the first time, followed closely by GSK, which has previously been in first position across all Index reports.

How do the companies compare in 2024?

Novartis and GSK stand out as the two leaders: Novartis (1st) and GSK (2nd) rank within the top three performers across all three Technical Areas, with Novartis leading in Governance of Access and Research & Development (R&D). The company has robust governance structures in place and demonstrates how it puts policy into practice. For example, Novartis implements a process to measure patient reach (as assessed in Governance of Access) and demonstrates an increase in the number of patients reached through access strategies for its products assessed by the Index within Product Delivery. In addition, Novartis performs well in R&D access planning for both communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), where it has robust plans in place, with broader country coverage compared to peers. GSK demonstrates strong performance across the board, leading in Product Delivery, with a particularly strong performance in access strategies and licensing. It continues to have the largest priority pipeline in comparison to peers, with R&D access plans in place for most pipeline candidates.