Patient groups’ perceptions of drug companies with large U.S. footprints have changed over the past year as companies battle political pressure, PatientView said.
The findings come from PatientView’s annual survey of more than 2,000 patient groups worldwide. The research firm found that patient groups “significantly changed their perceptions of the corporate reputations of many individual drug companies.” PatientView said such large year-over-year changes are rare and feedback suggests that “rapid changes in market conditions are the primary cause of the divergence.”
The reputation rankings of pharmaceutical companies fluctuate, centering on companies with large bases in the United States. The change was “primarily driven by market and political pressures affecting pharmaceutical companies,” the research firm said. Patient View cited U.S. political interference, the patent cliff, and product setbacks as pressures that have affected drug companies over the past year.
This pressure “contributed to layoffs and attrition,” PatientView said. Patient organizations are being affected by this change. A representative from a national brain tumor patient organization told PatientView that working with patient groups “is the first thing[drug companies]do when they’re worried about revenue.” Another patient organization representative said business interests were getting in the way of patient focus.
European pharmaceutical companies were the main beneficiaries of US volatility Seven of the 11 companies that rose the most in the ranking were European. Among the companies that jumped up the rankings, there were only three American companies: Merck & Co., PTC Therapeutics, and BioMarin. Another company that moved up the rankings was Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
GSK was the fastest to move up 10 places, followed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi. The rise of AstraZeneca has pushed it to third place in the reputation rankings, knocking Gilead Sciences off the podium. As in the previous survey, ViiV Healthcare and Roche took first and second place, respectively.
Overall, 57% of respondents said their pharmaceutical company had a good or excellent reputation. This is the first increase in the industry’s position since 2022, when 60% of respondents rated the industry as good or excellent. This number has remained stable between 56% and 60% over the past five years.
