Patient advocacy groups’ perception of pharma companies fell for the first time since beginning a steady rise five years ago, a sign that the industry may not be able to fully hang on to the improved reputation it’s enjoyed over the last several years, according to a new survey.
The survey from PatientView assessed patient groups’ opinions across 10 different issues, including integrity, transparency, equitable access, patient centricity and high-quality products, and assigned a percentage score.
Pharma’s score on the survey hit a recent high last year of 60%, and fell to 57% this year. It’s an indication that “pharma’s elevated reputational status may not be sustainable,” PatientView said in the latest edition of the annual report published Monday. In 2018, the industry had a score of 41%, which rose to 50% during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decline from Covid-era highs isn’t unique to patient advocacy groups. Harris Poll tracking of US consumer opinions of the pharma industry shows a similar decrease, from a high of 62% positive perception in February 2021 to 45% last month.
The PatientView survey questioned patient groups in 29 countries. The reputation score for drugmakers fell in 16 nations, including in the US (from 65% to 57%). Patient groups in 13 countries had better opinions of pharma companies this year, including Novo Nordisk’s home country of Denmark (up 12 percentage points to 41% overall favorable), the UK (up 11 points) and Japan (up five points).
ViiV Healthcare, Gilead and Roche topped the reputation ranking of all 41 biopharmas, while Gilead, Roche and Pfizer led when narrowed to the 15 largest pharma companies. The companies notching the biggest reputation gains for the year were BioMarin, up 16 percentage points, followed by Amgen’s 11-point increase and Sanofi, UCB and CSL Behring with six-point increases.
PatientView surveyed 2,518 groups across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including oncology, HIV, dermatology, mental health and rare disease.
This year’s problematic areas for patient groups with the industry followed a familiar theme. The majority of groups still want better pricing policies, more equitable access and more patient involvement in R&D, the report found.