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Partnerships

The global community must provide political will, a significant mobilisation of additional resources and a spirit of partnership if we are to see an improvement in healthcare and quality of life across the developing world. We are committed to working in partnership across all our activities in the fight against diseases of the developing world.

R&D
Many of these diseases, such as malaria, disproportionately affect developing countries. This means there is often no viable commercial market for new treatments. New ways are required to encourage R&D and to ensure that new medicines and vaccines reach the people who need them. One solution is the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. This encourages R&D and can often accelerate the product’s uptake in the developing world on a scale that cannot be achieved by a company on its own.

PPPs involve both companies and the public sector (eg governments, the WHO and other UN bodies, academia and philanthropic foundations). Working together is helping to address this lack of effective markets. Companies provide technology, development, manufacturing and distribution expertise. Public sector partners help fund R&D and delivery costs, ensuring that new medicines and vaccines get to the people who need them. We are a partner in several PPPs including the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Global Alliance for TB and the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI). PPPs such as these are transforming the landscape of R&D into diseases of the developing world.

Voluntary Licensing (VL)
We want to play an active role in addressing the healthcare crisis in developing countries. We believe preferential pricing arrangements are the best way to do this because we are able to ensure delivery of a safe, quality product at an affordable price for as long as it is needed.

This is where we focus our efforts. But in some situations, partnerships and voluntary licences (VL) may also help to increase the supply of medicines.

VLs enable local manufacturers to produce and sell generic versions of our products. We have granted six VLs for our antiretrovirals (ARVs) in Africa where HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact. This is a creative response to a unique situation.

A decision to grant a VL depends on a number of factors including the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in that country, local healthcare provision and the economic and manufacturing environment. VLs are not a universal solution to HIV/AIDS but a specific response to a particular set of circumstances.

We discuss VLs with potential partners on a case-by-case basis. Selecting the most appropriate licensees is key. We need to be sure that the manufacturer will be able to provide a long-term supply of good quality medicines and will implement safeguards to prevent the diversion of medicines to wealthier markets.

There has been much discussion about the use of compulsory licences, under which intellectual property (IP) rights are taken away from the rights holders. Compulsory licences are one of the flexibilities in the World Trade Organisation’s TRIPs agreement on intellectual property, which can be used for humanitarian purposes. However, widespread use of compulsory licences will undermine the intellectual property framework and be counter-productive in the long-term. R&D into new treatments, especially where commercial markets exist, such as for HIV/AIDS, depends on protection for intellectual property.

For the latest information on progress go to the Corporate Responsibility Review.

Community Investment
Through our Global Community Partnerships programme, we fund community-led initiatives in almost 100 countries around the world. We have a wide range of partnerships, with a focus on health and education programmes for under-served communities. During 2006 we donated life-saving medicines valued at £22 million ($41 million) to support relief efforts in almost 100 countries. Immediate supplies of antibiotics and basic medicines were sent in response to the devastating tsunami in South East Asia, severe flooding in Bangladesh, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the hurricanes which affected Central America and the Caribbean. In the developing world, our activities span four major developing world diseases (lymphatic filariasis, HIV/AIDS, malaria and diarrhoeal disease), a number of regional health initiatives, health education, product donations, and employee involvement.

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