AbbVie and GSK have surged up the rankings of the pharma companies with the best reputations among U.K. patient groups, contributing to turnover at the top of the leaderboards.
PatientView surveyed (PDF) 106 U.K. patient groups about pharma companies’ reputations. When the analysis is limited to groups that worked with the companies they ranked, GSK, AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim, in that order, took the top three spots. Only Boehringer, which ranked third in the previous report, survived from last year, with former winner Pfizer and Roche dropping out of the top three.
The new-look leaderboard reflects fast rises for GSK and, in particular, AbbVie. GSK jumped five places to claim first, while AbbVie took second place after soaring 10 spots up the leaderboard. AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., up three and two places, respectively, were the next fastest risers.
Expanding the analysis to companies that the patient groups are familiar with, but don’t necessarily work with, changes the rankings but retains some of the trends. Roche took first place, followed by Boehringer and AstraZeneca. AbbVie climbed five places, making it the joint fastest, tied with Novartis. AstraZeneca rose four places, while GSK and Roche both gained three positions.
UCB, Pfizer and Boehringer, in that order occupied the top three spots in last year’s report. This year, UCB and Pfizer dropped out of the top three altogether in the latest report, replaced by Roche and the fast-rising AstraZeneca.
The swings in perceptions of individual companies were echoed by a sharp shift in the reputation of the industry overall. Pharma’s reputation with U.K. patient groups has yo-yoed in recent years, with the proportion of respondents rating it good or excellent bouncing from 44% to 55% to 46% over the three previous years. The figure bounced back this year, rising to 56%, the highest level since at least 2021.
PatientView reported volatility in its global results when it shared those data last month. Patient groups “markedly shifted their perceptions of the corporate reputation of many individual pharma companies,” a trend PatientView attributed to political pressures on U.S. drugmakers.