The Corporate Reputation of Pharma in 2021 - The Patient Perspective - HIV/AIDS Edition -The Views of 168 HIV/AIDS Patient Groups

The ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey - HIV/AIDS Edition, is now in its 9th year, and two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. Running between November 2021 to February 2022, the survey collected the opinions of 168 HIV/AIDS patient groups on the performance of the pharmaceutical industry during 2021. 

Patient groups possess a unique understanding of the needs of the patients, and represent the collated views of patients. Patient-group perspectives have become increasingly important to regulators that demand patient input into trial design and conduct, as well as into the evaluation of clinical outcomes. At the same time, many patient groups are also familiar with the complexities of pharma’s business - 85% of the HIV/AIDS patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey worked or partnered with at least one pharma company that year. 

The report provides highlights on:   

• How the analyst measures pharma’s corporate reputation from a patient perspective; 
• The headline results of the 2021 survey, from the perspective of HIV/AIDS patient groups; 
• The companies included in the 2021 HIV/AIDS analysis; and 
• The profiles of 2021’s respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups. 

SUMMARY OF RESULTS 

FINDINGS AT INDUSTRY LEVEL 

The 168 HIV/AIDS patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey rated the pharma industry more favourably for corporate reputation than their predecessors in all previous years. 50% of 2021’s respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups stated that the industry had an “Excellent” or “Good” corporate reputation, against 47% saying the same in 2020 - although both of these figures remain lower than those reported by patient groups of other therapy areas. In 2021, 59% of respondent patient groups from all therapy areas thought the pharma industry had an “Excellent” or “Good” corporate reputation.

The pharmaceutical industry has always had to respond to an active and effective patient movement that represents people with HIV/AIDS. However, the recent increases in pharma’s corporate reputation over the last two years can, in part, be attributed to the industry’s response to the Covid19 pandemic.

78% of 2021’s respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups judged the industry’s response to  Covid-19 to be “Effective” or “Very effective”. Although pharma’s relationships with patient groups are wide ranging, funding became an existential issue for patient groups during the pandemic. In  2021, 65% of the 142 respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups working with pharma stated that they had received financial donations. 2020’s equivalent figure was 57%.

Despite the higher approval ratings for pharma from the HIV/AIDS patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey, these patient groups also expressed concerns that the industry should be doing much more. Although pharms have made significant therapeutic advances over the past 40 years, the fact remains that almost 38 million people worldwide continue to live with HIV. International bodies have set the goal of ending the epidemic by 2030. The pharmaceutical industry has an important role to play in supporting these efforts, according to respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups, as follows:

• Innovation: 68% of the HIV/AIDS patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey thought the industry “Excellent” or “Good” at innovation (versus 58% saying the same in 2020). Also in 2021, 72% of respondents HIV/AIDS groups considered the industry “Excellent” or “Good” at creating products of benefit to patients (versus 58% saying the same in 2020). Nonetheless, as the world aims to eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic, respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups call for further improvements to pharma’s drug treatments, so that people living with HIV/AIDS can take their medication with minimal difficulty (improve compliance), and, at the same time, enjoy a good quality of life.   
• Access to medicines: Just 33% of 2021’s respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups thought the industry “Excellent” or “Good” at helping to ensure equitable access to medicines. Of the estimated 37.7 million people living with HIV in 2020, only 75% were accessing antiretroviral treatment - leaving 9.5 million individuals (predominantly in poorer countries) still waiting. In June 2021, UNAIDS issued a new global pledge “to end all inequalities faced by communities and people affected by HIV towards ending AIDS.” 
• Drug pricing and transparency: Some respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups blame the current inequitable situation on the ineffective processes by which governments negotiate drug prices with pharma, and pharma’s lack of transparency in that process. Since 2013, respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups have consistently marked pharma down for its pricing policies - in 2021, only 18% thought the industry “Excellent” or “Good” at setting fair prices. Similarly, just 16% thought pharma “Excellent” or “Good” at being transparent about pricing. 

COMPANY RANKINGS 

• The top-three pharma companies out of 12 companies, ranked for their overall corporate reputation in 2021, were assessed by respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups familiar with the company: ViiV Healthcare, 1st - Gilead Sciences, 2nd - and Janssen, 3rd.
• The top-three ‘big-pharma’ companies out of 7 companies, ranked for overall corporate reputation in 2021, were assessed by respondent HIV/AIDS patient groups familiar with the company: Janssen, 1st - GSK, 2nd - and Merck &Co*, 3rd.

* known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada 

Who Should Read this Report? 

Customer Types (Organisations)

• Pharma companies
• Biopharma companies
  • Regulatory authorities (e.g EMA, FDA) 
  • NGOs and health charities (usually FOC) including Patient Groups
  • Research and academia

Job Titles/Functions for Pharma and Biopharma Organisations

Core: 

• Patient Relations
• Corporate Reputation
• Public Affairs
• Professional Affairs
• Patient Advocacy
• Communications
• Market Research

Secondary: 

• R&D
• Health economics
• Outcomes Research
• Medical Affairs
• Marketing
• Brand teams
• Market Access 
• Regulatory