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Research & development

We are committed to the future of the developing world today, we are committed to its future by investing in the R&D that will produce the new treatments and vaccines for tomorrow. We have the industry’s most extensive portfolio of R&D projects for diseases of the developing world, with 14 clinical programmes, seven of which are for diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries. We believe that we are the only pharmaceutical company researching both medicines and vaccines for the World Health Organization’s three priority diseases in the developing world – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

For many years, our products have formed the core of HIV/AIDS treatment guidelines around the world, and we remain the industry leader in research into HIV/AIDS treatment, and currently has three major clinical development programmes in progress, each with a different mode of action.

For other diseases of the developing world, a dedicated group, based in the UK, US and Spain, has been created within our pharmaceutical R&D organisation to ensure a focus on these diseases. For this group, drug development projects are prioritised primarily on their socio-economic and public health benefits rather than their commercial returns. A similar group exists in our vaccines organisation based in Belgium.

For the latest information on progress please see Access to medicines in our Corporate Responsibility Report (page 32).

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