Pharmaceutical companies let poor countries hang

The largest pharmaceutical companies present themselves as non-profit aides of the developing countries. However, the reality is different, according to a report by the NGO "Access to Medicine".

Medical care in developing countries

Every other year, scientists from the "Access to Medicine" organization examine how the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world look after medical care for developing countries. The current result is sobering.

Disease research in developing countries focuses on a few pests such as AIDS and tuberculosis. Rarer diseases such as infections with the Zikavirus are neglected. (Image: Henrik Dolle / fotolia.com)

No help for the biggest problems

Report 2018 is negative for most of the largest corporations. Although they had expanded aid programs and brought new drugs on the market and took care of lower prices. But only five of the 20 pharmaceutical giants currently develop drugs that the poorest countries absolutely need.

Four groups supply 63 percent of all projects

Only four of the twenty companies operated 63 percent of all projects to improve medical care in developing countries. These include the British company GlaxoSmithKline, then Johnson & Johnson, Novartis from Switzerland, the German family-owned company Merck and the Sanofi Group from France. These invested the most in the development of important medicines.

Fragile research

Jayasree Iyer, the director of Access to Medicine, sees it as a problem that research into key medicines is only in the hands of so few companies. Even if only one of these companies would fail, this would have serious consequences.

Focus on five diseases

Half of the research targets only five diseases: malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. These are considered the most common diseases in poor countries and therefore find international donors, so "Access to Medicine".

No medications for less common epidemics

The focus on the five most prevalent diseases conceals that dangerous pathogens can not be fought to this day. Thus, there is no antidote to the tick-borne Crimean Congo fever. The Zikavirus or Nipahinfektionen would hardly be explored. No one knows how fast such epidemics can spread.

Where are the German companies??

The family-owned company Merck is best - it came in fourth place among the twenty companies. Boehringer Ingelheim is in 14th place. Bayer, Germany's largest pharmaceutical company, slipped four places and is now 16th. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)