Corporate Social Responsibility of Pharmaceutical Industry Towards Access to Medicine: A Case Study of GlaxoSmithKline

Abstract

India has changed its patent policy in 2005. It was compliance to WTO TRIPs provision and after this there was prohibition on process or generic manufacturing. India is the biggest supplier of affordable generic medicines and this patent protection is said to be beneficial to novel drug manufacturing countries. The generic drugs can be a differentiation factor between lives starting point and the ending point for millions of people in developing countries. This remains an obstacle to inexpensive generic medicines which results in devastating impact on the poorer people. These patent laws allow large MNC's to place ‘profits over people'. World Health Organisation report price of medicines are important for maintaining the affordability and access of the medicines. This research evaluates the strategies and practices of Glaxo Smith Kline in contribution towards the access to medicines and their contribution of corporate social responsibility in India.