Global pharma firms start prioritizing patients over pricing

A flexible approach towards pharmaceutical intellectual property (IP) protection and adaptive pricing is making drugs more affordable and accessible in poorer countries, according to Vlerick business school.

The school’s Professors Walter Van Dyck and Leo Neels discussed this following the recent decision of UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) to not seek patent protection on medicines in low-income countries. The decision was made to broaden the access to pharmaceuticals for local authorities and patients.

Prof Neels says: “The new initiative is an elegant example of adaptive pricing… adapted that is, to the standard of living in different countries.”