Shire, Sanofi and Bayer have the best public reps in pharma: Report
Big Pharmas that didn't hit the top tier should zero in on honesty, social responsibility
June 18, 2015 | By Emily Wasserman
Brad Hecht
It's no secret that Big Pharma isn't winning popularity contests, as pricing pressures, safety issues and regulatory drama continue to take their toll on drugmakers' reputations. But some companies fare better than others in the eyes of the American public, racking up points for leadership and good behavior, according to a new report from research firm Reputation Institute.
The firm looked at consumer ratings to gauge the public's perception of pharma companies, and ranked each company on a 100-point scale. One of the biggest drivers of reputation was how the company portrayed itself to the public, rather than the products and services it provided, Brad Hecht, the Reputation Institute's vice president and chief research officer, told FiercePharma.Shire ($SHPG), the number one company on the firm's list with 77.5 points, embodies this approach, Hecht said. It was the first time the drugmaker was included in the firm's analysis, but its lean and futuristic business model could be what catapulted them to the top of the list. "The way Shire talks and presents itself, it's as a company that takes risks treating rare diseases that frankly don't have the biggest market opportunity. It hits right at the core of the drivers in the pharma space: being authentic and showing stakeholders that what they're doing is better for society," Hecht said.
Sanofi ($SNY) and Bayer were not far behind, with Sanofi grabbing the number two spot and Bayer winning third place in the rankings. AbbVie ($ABBV), Roche ($RHHBY), Eli Lilly ($LLY) and Novartis ($NVS) also made the list with scores in the low 70s. And Takeda, the last company in the rankings, trailed Novartis by a slim margin with 71.09 points.
Bayer, which clinched the top spot on the Reputation Institute's list last year, fell a bit in the rankings, earning 75.83 points in 2015 compared with 76.26 points last year. But the company's reputation will likely improve in the next year or two as the company shifts gears and becomes more focused on its life sciences business and consumer care, Hecht figures.
Other pharma companies could take a similar tack if they want to improve their reputations, he added. Big Pharmas notably absent from the top-reputation list were Pfizer ($PFE), AstraZeneca ($AZN), Merck ($MRK), Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY).
Big Pharmas that didn't hit the top tier should zero in on honesty, social responsibility
June 18, 2015 | By Emily Wasserman
Brad Hecht
It's no secret that Big Pharma isn't winning popularity contests, as pricing pressures, safety issues and regulatory drama continue to take their toll on drugmakers' reputations. But some companies fare better than others in the eyes of the American public, racking up points for leadership and good behavior, according to a new report from research firm Reputation Institute.
The firm looked at consumer ratings to gauge the public's perception of pharma companies, and ranked each company on a 100-point scale. One of the biggest drivers of reputation was how the company portrayed itself to the public, rather than the products and services it provided, Brad Hecht, the Reputation Institute's vice president and chief research officer, told FiercePharma.Shire ($SHPG), the number one company on the firm's list with 77.5 points, embodies this approach, Hecht said. It was the first time the drugmaker was included in the firm's analysis, but its lean and futuristic business model could be what catapulted them to the top of the list. "The way Shire talks and presents itself, it's as a company that takes risks treating rare diseases that frankly don't have the biggest market opportunity. It hits right at the core of the drivers in the pharma space: being authentic and showing stakeholders that what they're doing is better for society," Hecht said.
Sanofi ($SNY) and Bayer were not far behind, with Sanofi grabbing the number two spot and Bayer winning third place in the rankings. AbbVie ($ABBV), Roche ($RHHBY), Eli Lilly ($LLY) and Novartis ($NVS) also made the list with scores in the low 70s. And Takeda, the last company in the rankings, trailed Novartis by a slim margin with 71.09 points.
Bayer, which clinched the top spot on the Reputation Institute's list last year, fell a bit in the rankings, earning 75.83 points in 2015 compared with 76.26 points last year. But the company's reputation will likely improve in the next year or two as the company shifts gears and becomes more focused on its life sciences business and consumer care, Hecht figures.
Other pharma companies could take a similar tack if they want to improve their reputations, he added. Big Pharmas notably absent from the top-reputation list were Pfizer ($PFE), AstraZeneca ($AZN), Merck ($MRK), Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY).
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