Pharma Christmas: When politics and pharma meet

With the UK heading into a December General Election, citizens across the country are all wondering which stuffed turkey will be in Number 10 come Christmas. 

As someone who’s been uninspired with the state of politics for some time now it’s difficult not to be pessimistic about party pledges and promises. After all, the past decade or so has seen political figures range from cartoonish to outright villainous, and the state of the UK has never been as fractious as it is now.

In some ways it’s similar to the pharma market – cartoonish villains and all.

Martin Shkreli, who infamously raised the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by 5,000%, is now behind bars for securities fraud, paying example to how accountability in the life sciences market is apparently hard to come by.

More so, controversy followed when it was announced earlier this year that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch would be retiring with a hefty paycheque after 28 years at the company. The first woman to run a Fortune 500 pharma company, under Bresch’s tenure Mylan faced a string of controversies, the biggest of which included raising EpiPen prices by over 400% - a questionable move given the company’s mission to improve patient access to medicines.

However, much like in politics those doing good work rarely get a mention.

Take antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for instance. Most people tuned into the world of life sciences understand that this is one of the most pressing health issues facing the entire planet, but progress has stymied due to pharma companies pulling out of antibiotic development initiatives. And the UK’s fractious politics over the past three years has threatened to undermine our position as a leader in the AMR field.  

This year though saw Pfizer UK launch a number of programmes to help address issues around AMR. After showing support for NICE’s plan to trial a new subscription model for antibiotics, the company announced it would remove sales incentives for anti-infectives. Instead, salespeople at Pfizer UK are being measured via management-based objectives (MBOs), with a particular focus on generating access to medicines and promoting the appropriate use of antibiotics.

Of course, as a leading supplier of antimicrobials it’s in Pfizer’s best interests to be at the forefront of AMR developments – but that’s my cynical side talking.

However, it’s efforts like Pfizer’s that show pharma companies aren’t entirely profit driven and can be, in fact, a bastion for progress and goodwill.

Now if only our politicians would act the same then we’d all have happy holidays.

 Merry Christmas.