"Bringing Medicines" Launch Event held at BMZ
On 23 January, “Bringing Medicines to Low-Income Markets: A Guide to Creating Inclusive Business Models for Pharmaceutical Companies” was formally launched at the 3rd Base of the Pyramid Sector Dialogue.
Over 100 guests came together at the BMZ in Berlin for the occasion. Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary to the BMZ, opened the event and delivered the keynote speech. Solveig Haupt, associated expert of Endeva, presented the key findings from the study, including information on the 4A+1 framework, which aims to help companies think about new approaches in creating a compelling value proposition for low-income patients.
Arno Tomowski, Director of the Business Unit for Private Sector Cooperation at the GIZ, then welcomed Susanne Dorasil, head of the Economic Policy Division at the Financial Sector of the BMZ, Dr. Bernard Pécoul, executive director for the Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative (DNDi,) and Dr. Robert Sebbag, Vice President of Access to Medicines at Sanofi. The panel concluded that serving low-income markets can make business sense for pharmaceutical companies: On the one hand, they slowly learn how to address the challenges of “the markets of the future”, as stressed by Dr. Sebbag. On the other hand, they may encounter more effective solutions that are as relevant for other consumers groups in industrialized countries – such as fixed-dose combinations.