Financial Times: Pharma industry improves access to medicines in developing world
“Pharmaceutical companies have made good progress in promoting global health over the past 10 years by providing more and better medicines to the developing world, according to an independent assessment of their performance. The study by the Amsterdam-based Access to Medicine Foundation comes at a time when the pharmaceuticals industry is facing widespread criticism from campaigners who say that companies’ overwhelming priority is to maximize returns to shareholders at the expense of public health…” (Cookson, 5/16).

STAT: Pharma is making progress addressing global health, but it’s still a mixed bag
“…Drug makers are taking steps to reach people on very low incomes and R&D pipelines have grown, but patient access programs have been confined to just a few diseases, only some companies are tackling the risks of unethical sales behavior, and still fewer support international trade agreements designed to ensure the poorest people can benefit from medical innovation, according to the analysis. … This mixed bag is a troubling sign that a stubborn gap between not only access to medicines, but enough of the needed treatments remains around the world, according to Jayasree Iyer, who heads the Access to Medicine Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Netherlands that released the report and regularly examines efforts made by drug makers in targeting needed medicines…” (Silverman, 5/16).