GSK still doing more than peers for the poor, says study

GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) remains the Robin Hood of pharma when it comes to providing medicines to the world’s poorest people.

The UK drugmaker has retained its position at the top of the Access to Medicine Index, an independent ranking of 20 of the leading pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to improve access to medicine in low- and middle-income countries.

Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) moves into second, ahead of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), with Japanese drugmaker Takeda (TYO: 4502) jumping up 10 places from its ranking in 2016 and completing the top five.