GSK tackles problem of access to medicines

Providing access to medicines in developing countries is a challenge. GSK is taking on this challenge through a multi-faceted approach. Christophe Weber, SVP and regional director Asia Pacific GSK, gave an in-depth presentation at the Regional Media Day held in Hong Kong.

Millions of people in developing countries die each year from diseases because they lack access to essential medicines. Tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS kill 20,000 people each day. 2 million children die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases.

There are many factors contributing to this lack of access: poor healthcare infrastructure; lower purchasing power means patients cannot support comparable prices in developed countries; and no viable market exists for a return of investment of neglected diseases.

Weber said that to meet these challenges, GSK is taking the following measures.

• Preferential pricing to reflect a country’s wealth and income distribution. Prices are capped at 20 percent of the developed country level. Also, 20 percent of the profits are reinvested in healthcare projects in partnership with local NGOs/governments.

• Fostering R&D through public-private partnerships. Drug development is a long drawn process costing US$1.3 billion per drug and taking up to 15 years. So for diseases of the developing world where no return of investment can be expected, GSK is advocating working with the public sector. GSK provides R&D, technology, manufacturing and distribution expertise. The public sector helps fund the costs and ensure that medicines and vaccines get to the people who need them.

• Investing in community-led initiatives such as lymphatic filariasis, HIV/AIDS, malaria and diarrhoeal disease.

• Supporting a holistic and broad-based approach to healthcare reform that focuses on strengthening health systems. In Asia, GSK is embarking on the following: promoting greater investment in health and creating risk-pooling mechanisms; supporting countries’ efforts to expand prevention and health promotion initiatives; supporting the development of robust health technology assessment systems; expanding regulatory harmonization; and promoting the separation of prescribing and dispensing.

“By taking a preferential pricing strategy for developing countries, we want to move from high price low volume to high volume low prices. In the long term, this is more sustainable. We are introducing preferential pricing for all products progressively,” Weber said. He also added that although prices are lowered, quality would be maintained as that for developed countries.

On why GSK is taking on this social responsibility, Weber said, “It is the right thing to do for patients, for society and for our business.”