Global Health Progress

Industry Emergency Funding Assistance and Medicine Donations Already Exceed USD 17 Million

Geneva – The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) confirms that, as in previous major natural disasters, the R&D-based pharmaceutical industry has moved quickly to provide substantial assistance for the victims of the recent cyclone in Burma and earthquake in southern China.

IFPMA Director General Dr. Harvey Bale said: “From the information supplied by our member companies and associations, emergency funding and medicines totaling USD 17.3 million have already been delivered by them or are on their way to help victims of these two catastrophes.

Companies’ current actions are maintaining a long tradition of prompt pharmaceutical industry support in the event of natural disasters.”

Companies which have reported making donations of cash and/or medicines include: Abbott, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck KGaA, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough and Wyeth.

Companies work with expert partners to confirm the assistance that is actually needed and to ensure its effective application. Partner organizations that companies have reported they are working with to address these two disasters include: Americares, CARE, China Charity Federation, the Chinese Culture Network, the Chinese Ministry of Health, Direct Relief International, Heart-to-Heart International, the Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations, the Mercy Corps, the Red Cross, Project HOPE, Save the Children, Sinopharm, UNICEF and World Vision. The IFPMA member association in China, RDPAC, has helped to coordinate assistance provided by local subsidiaries of multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in China.

# # #

About the IFPMA:
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations is the global nonprofit NGO representing the research-based pharmaceutical, biotech and vaccine sectors. Its members comprise 25 leading international companies and 44 national and regional industry associations covering developed and developing countries. The industry’s R&D pipeline contains hundreds of new medicines and vaccines being developed to address global disease threats, including cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and malaria. The IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal (www.ifpma.org/clinicaltrials), the IFPMA’s Ethical Promotion online resource (www.ifpma.org/EthicalPromotion/) and its Health Partnerships information (www.ifpma.org –Developing World) help make the industry’s activities more transparent. The IFPMA strengthens patient safety by improving risk assessment of medicines and combating their counterfeiting. It also provides the secretariat for the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).