Merck Serono Advances to Eighth Place in the 2012 Access to Medicine Index

Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index benchmarks twenty pharmaceutical companies on the different activities and initiatives in promoting access to medicines in low and middle income countries.2010 hat sich Merck damit um neun Plätze verbessert. Der Access to Medicine Index vergleicht alle zwei Jahre 20 Pharmaunternehmen in Form einer Rangliste bezüglich verschiedener Aktivitäten und Initiativen zur Verbesserung des Zugangs zu Arzneimitteln in Ländern mit schwachem bis mittleren Einkommen.

Merck Serono “has moved up to eighth place in this year’s Index largely because it has provided more information about its tiered pricing, management strategy and single-drug donation programs,” the Access to Medicine Foundation cited as reason why Merck Serono has moved up nine places.

“Today, our efforts have been well recognized by the Index and serve as a measuring tool to monitor Merck Serono’s overall progress in the access to medicine field. We are committed to pursuing and further developing our Access to Health activities in the future to achieve sustainable health solutions to all,” said Stefan Oschmann, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Serono and Member of the Executive Board of Merck.

The Access to Health initiative at Merck Serono was launched in February 2011 and has identified access gaps and opportunities to better meet the needs of underserved patients. Merck Serono’s Access to Health initiative aims at bringing added value to the community at large, and is becoming an integral part of how Merck Serono conducts business in a responsible, sustainable manner. Merck Serono recognizes the complexity of bringing health solutions to the poor and understands that the Access to Medicine Index objectives cannot be reached by the pharmaceutical industry alone. Complementarity, synergy and partnership among the different actors in health are needed to achieve a long-term impact and sustainable results.

Compared to 2010, Merck Serono has today been recognized by the Access to Medicines Foundation in particular for several topics such as:

Innovative research and development for a pediatric version of praziquantel to treat schistosomiasis, and adapting this drug and anti diabetic medication Glucophage; five collaborations for relevant diseases and two instances of intellectual property sharing.

Introduced access to medicine charter with board level responsibility, stakeholder engagement reflects initiatives for product donation and research and development targeting neglected tropical diseases, and provides detailed information about access strategy and policies.

Transparent about lobbying and public policy positions, monitored and enforced codes of conduct for ethical marketing for employees and third parties.

Media Contact:
Merck Serono S.A. 9 Chemin des Mines 1202 Genf Schweiz Media Relations Tel: +41 22 414 36 00

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.