Strengthening the health marketplace and infrastructure requires collaboration, aligned goals, and complementary capabilities across multiple stakeholders. Governments lead the charge in investing in and developing health systems that are accessible, safe and deliver the services people need. At the same time, companies can contribute by investing in sustainable solutions that yield shared value.
In our case, by investing in developing medicines and vaccines, we experience shared value in helping patients access them. This leads to the additional investments we make in the supply chain, in the education of thousands of healthcare workers, and in the employment of thousands of local representatives to help educate providers and patients.
But investing in traditional business initiatives is simply not enough. That’s why GSK has taken a number of steps to shake up how we do business, so we can help reach more patients, help create a healthier marketplace and put our business on a firm footing.
One of the most radical moves has been switching our focus from price to volume, capping prices of our patented products in least developed countries at no more than 25% of those in developed countries – so long as this covers our manufacturing costs. This flexible approach to pricing can help us to reach those patients towards the bottom of the wealth pyramid.