2024 Access to Medicine Index finds that pharma companies are missing opportunities to reach more patients in low- and middle-income countries

AMSTERDAM, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2024 Access to Medicine Index finds that pharmaceutical companies are not fully leveraging their potential to expand access in underserved regions. While the Foundation's new analysis shows improvement by some pharmaceutical companies in distinct areas, overall, momentum has slowed since the 2022 Index that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing gaps in access to medicine remain unaddressed.

What does the report find?

Despite the pharmaceutical industry's evident potential to drive expansion of access to medicines, the 2024 Index results show that both product and geographic coverage remain inconsistent, leaving significant portions of the world's poorest populations overlooked and underserved.

Collaborative activities, such as voluntary licensing agreements and technology transfers, which can have a significant impact in improving the local availability of medicine globally, are not being maximised by companies. Only two new non-exclusive voluntary licensing (NEVL) agreements were identified in the 2024 Index, compared with six in 2022, signalling a missed opportunity to improve local availability of innovative medicines. While some companies are engaging in technology transfers, these are concentrated in upper-middle-income countries, rather than regions with the greatest need, such as sub-Saharan Africa.

The 2024 Index finds that greater effort must be made in research and development (R&D) – especially regarding the low representation of resource-poor populations in clinical trials. Less than half (43%) of all clinical trials occurred in any of the 113 low- and middle-income countries in scope of the 2024 Index, despite these countries being home to nearly 80% of the global population. As pharmaceutical companies typically prioritise access planning in countries where clinical trials are conducted, this leaves much of the world behind in access.

Five companies (Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Sanofi) are now prioritising low-income and least developed countries within their inclusive business models, facilitating access to their products across 102 LMICs covered by the 2024 Index. However, the outcomes of these models remain somewhat unclear, in part due to lack of transparency on the part of pharmaceutical companies reporting on the number of patients reached through these models.

Notably, Novartis now ranks as the top company for the first time, followed closely by GSK, which has been ranked first in all previous Index reports.

"There are significant opportunities to scale access and finally bridge the health equity gap for billions around the world. By using tried-and-tested mechanisms and new and innovative approaches, as well as leveraging their local partnerships, companies can meet their full potential in delivering their lifesaving treatments to patients, wherever they are needed."

– Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO, Access to Medicine Foundation

Next steps

The industry has proven its ability to act quickly and respond to challenges in the recent past. Now, companies must command further movement in the fight for global healthcare equity. Companies can use the analyses, key findings and Best Practices in the 2024 Index to identify areas to concentrate their access-to-medicine efforts and work toward closing persistent gaps.

Read the full report – 2024 Access to Medicine Index