Most companies are building local capabilities in each of the five focus areas. However, their activities are often part of short-term collaborations. The industry is actively building capacities in a wide range of countries. More companies are active in China than any other country within scope, followed by Indonesia, and India. More than two-thirds of companies are active in at least one low income country.
Since 2012, nine companies have increased their efforts to build local manufacturing capabilities. Of these, eight have annual revenues below USD25 billion. Their larger peers, with annual revenues above USD40 billion, provide no evidence of expanding or deepening their activities in this area. Only one of these larger companies increased its activities in this area.
In 2012, eight companies provided evidence that they are supporting the efforts of certain countries to build national pharmacovigilance systems. In 2014, this has more than doubled: 17 companies are now actively contributing in this area, in a total of 39 countries. Ghana, India and Vietnam receive the most attention from companies.
In 2014, 17 companies were found to be building local capacities in supply chain management (up from 15 in 2012). In this area, these 17 companies are active in 67 out of 106 countries in scope. However, most of their activities are short-term in nature. Long-term initiatives are more likely to produce sustainable improvements in the supply of medicines.
As in 2012, 18 companies are helping to build local research capacity: with a focus on China, followed by Brazil, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Their efforts fall into four distinct categories:
• Collaborating on drug discovery with local organisations.
• Providing training on clinical trial conduct.
• Providing research grants, fellowships and exchange placements.
• Promoting and enabling scientific careers.
• Sub-ranking and analysis of how companies performed in this area
• Overview of best and innovative practices in this area
• Analyses of how companies work with local partners to build local capabilities in five areas:
1. Research & Development
2. Quality management in manufacturing
3. Supply chain management
5. Activities beyond the value chain