In March 2003, acting on its commitment to promote corporate social responsibility, the ethos Foundation joined the Pharmaceutical Shareowners Group (PSG), a group of European investors, in exerting pressure on pharmaceutical companies to facilitate access to medicines in developing countries (see our news of 25 March 2003).
The group has launched a year-long programme of dialogue with the main pharmaceutical companies. The aim is to work with those companies to identify examples of good practice which promote access to drugs and projects that serve as benchmarks in this area.
PSG has involved other stakeholders such as non-governmental groups (NGOs) and the financial community, including financial analysts of the major asset managers working for institutional investors.
On this account, PSG organized a multi-stakeholder forum in London on 11 September 2003. The forum brought together representatives of the biggest European pharmaceutical companies, representatives of the financial community (asset managers, institutional investors) and representatives of the British Department for International Development (DFID).
In the context of discussing the contribution of pharmaceutical companies to improving access to medicines in developing countries, the following points were discussed:
- the limits to corporate philanthropy in the pharmaceutical sector in terms of investor demands for returns on their investment and the cost of drugs for the customer in general;
- consideration of the potential for growth in developing country markets;
- the convergent interests of long-term investors and the need for pharmaceutical companies to evolve long-term strategies for the development of new drugs.
The entire outcome of this ongoing dialogue will be available in the spring of 2004.
For further information:
Contact ethos or visit PSG’s website: www.pharmashareownersgroup.org
