THE CORPORATE REPUTATION OF THE PHARMA INDUSTRY IN 2015: THE PERSPECTIVE OF 93 EASTERN-EUROPEAN PATIENT GROUPS (2nd edition)

Report published by PatientView

8th July 2016

 
 

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Contact: Alex Wyke     Email: report@patient-view.com   Website: http://www.patient-view.com

 

About this report

London, Friday 8th July 2016. This report is based on the findings of a PatientView November 2015-January 2016 survey exploring the views of 93 Eastern-European patient groups. The report provides feedback (from the perspective of  these patient groups) on the corporate reputation of the pharma industry during 2015, as well as on the performance of 19 pharma companies trading in the region at six key indicators that influence corporate reputation. Results are compared with those of other countries/geographic regions from the 2015 survey. For the purposes of this report, the phrase ‘corporate reputation’ is defined as the extent to which pharma companies are meeting the expectations of patients and patient groups.

 
 

The six indicators of corporate reputation:

  1. Patient centricity.
  2. Patient information.
  3. Patient safety.
  4. Useful products.
  5. Transparency.  And ...
  6. Integrity.

The 19 companies analysed:

AbbVie I Amgen I AstraZeneca I Bayer I Boehringer Ingelheim I Bristol-Myers Squibb I Gedeon Richter I GSK I Janssen I Lilly I Merck & Co I Novartis I Novo Nordisk I Pfizer I Roche I Sandoz I Sanofi I Servier I Teva.

 

"Costs have skyrocketed on older generic drugs. It is painful to know that we are paying American drug companies much more than people in other countries are paying for the same drugs.”

—Local Romania-based patient group specialising in a neurological condition

“Trudne procedowanie współpracy, przeciągnie terminów, brak decyzyjności, która często powoduje ze organizacja ‘kredytuje’ programy a potem trudno uzyskać płatności, długie procedowanie umów, brak czytelnych i jasnych kryteriów co do decyzyjności i ram.”

—National Poland-based patient group specialising in a neurological condition

 

INDUSTRY-WIDE FINDINGS

The 93 patient groups based in Eastern Europe and responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey were more positive about the pharma industry’s corporate reputation than patient groups in 2015 from other parts of the world.

 
68.9% of the 93 Eastern-European patient groups responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey stated that the pharma industry as a whole had an “Excellent” or “Good” corporate reputation that year. In 2014, 64.4% of Eastern-European patient groups stated the same. The equivalent figure for patient groups from all parts of the world in 2015 was 44.7%. This makes Eastern-European patient groups more positive than patient groups from any other region of the world.

Patient groups in Eastern Europe responding in 2015 ranked the pharma industry 1st out of 8 healthcare-industry sectors for corporate reputation—ahead of private healthcare, retail pharmacists, medical devices, biotech, generics, for-profit and not-for-profit health insurers. In 2014, Eastern-European patient groups also ranked pharma 1st out of 8 healthcare-industry sectors. Pharma ranked 5th in the global results for 2015.

 

In 2015, Eastern-European patient groups were more impressed than patient groups in any other part of the world by pharma’s ability to conduct four of its key activities:

  • 86% of the patient groups based in Eastern Europe responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey described the industry as a whole as “Excellent” or “Good” at being innovative—a higher figure than from patient groups of any other geographic area. The equivalent figure from patient groups across the entire world in 2015 was 69%.
  • 83% of the patient groups based in Eastern Europe responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey described the industry as a whole as “Excellent” or “Good” at providing high-quality products—again, a higher figure than from patient groups of any other geographic area. The equivalent figure from patient groups worldwide in 2015 was 72%.
  • 51% of the patient groups based in Eastern Europe responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey described the industry as a whole as “Excellent” or “Good” at managing adverse news about products—once more, a higher figure than from patient groups of any other geographic area. The figure from patient groups worldwide in 2015 was 35%.
  • Finally, 30% of the patient groups based in Eastern Europe responding to the 2015 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey described the industry as a whole as “Excellent” or “Good” at having fair pricing policies. Though a low figure, this is higher than from patient groups of any other geographic area. The figure from patient groups worldwide in 2015 was 15%.
 

Percentage of patient groups worldwide (by geographic region) stating that pharma is “Excellent” or “Good” at being innovative

Percentage of patient groups worldwide (by therapy area) stating that pharma is “Excellent” or “Good”at providing high-quality products

Percentage of patient groups worldwide (by geographic region) stating that pharma is “Excellent” or “Good” at managing adverse news about products 

Percentage of patient groups worldwide (by geographic region) stating that pharma is “Excellent” or “Good” at having fair pricing policies

 

BUT ...

For Eastern-European patient groups, the most-important single strategy that any pharma company can embrace to improve its corporate reputation is to adopt a patient-centred strategy. In 2014, 25% of Eastern-European patient groups thought the same, as did 20% of patient groups worldwide in 2015. Worthy of note is that more Eastern-European patient groups in 2015 than in 2014 (15% against 8%) thought that industry should do more to make high-quality, useful products. The equivalent figure among patient groups worldwide in 2015 was 11%.

 
 

HOW INDIVIDUAL PHARMA COMPANIES PERFORMED FOR CORPORATE REPUTATION IN EASTERN EUROPE IN 2015

 

Novartis was ranked 1st out of 19 companies by patient groups in Eastern Europe in 2015 (a significant increase on its performance in the region in 2014 , when it ranked 6th out of 12 companies). Novartis' improved corporate reputation in Eastern Europe in 2015 is the result of positive feedback for the company from the region's cancer and neurological patient groups—particularly on the corporate-reputation indicator that measures the quality and usefulness of products.

ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS:

The respondent Eastern-European patient groups came from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia Slovakia, and Slovenia. The patient groups among these countries varied considerably in their views about pharma.

 
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PatientView is a UK-based research organisation that consults closely with patient groups, and publicises the work of the patient-advocacy movement.

 
www.patient-view.com