Over the next few weeks, several major pharmaceutical companies will face a fresh crop of shareholder proposals that would require them to take steps to widen access to their medicines, an issue that is drawing increasing attention from investors.
The proposals address such topics as making Covid-19 medical products more accessible, aligning lobbying with public policy goals for promoting greater affordability, and reining in anticompetitive practices. Another proposal would require feasibility studies for transferring technology and know-how that could be used by generic manufacturers to make needed products for low-income countries.
The effort reflects ongoing frustration with the pharmaceutical industry over business practices that have often made it difficult for patients to obtain treatments. In recent years, such concerns regularly prompted activist investors to push proposals to combat the cost of prescription medicines, but the issue took on added dimension as the Covid-19 pandemic caused inequitable access to vaccines.
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