The Views of 109 French Patient Groups on the Corporate Reputation of Pharma in 2021-2022: Innovations, Patient-group Relations, Access to Medications, Impact of the Pandemic – ResearchAndMarkets.com

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “The Corporate Reputation of Pharma in 2021- The Patient Perspective – France Edition – The Views of 109 French Patient Groups” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

The ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey – the 2021 France edition is now in its 2nd year, and two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. Between November 2021-February 2022, the survey collected the opinions of 109 France-based patient groups on the performance of the pharmaceutical industry during 2021.

Continue reading on for details of:

• How the analyst measures pharma’s corporate reputation from a patient perspective;
• The headline results of the 2021 France element of the ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey;
• The companies included in the 2021 France analysis; and
• The profiles of 2021’s respondent French patient groups.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS FOR FRANCE, 2021

FINDINGS AT PHARMA-INDUSTRY LEVEL

The annual surveying has found the overall reputation of the pharmaceutical industry in France to have remained poor since 2018. In 2021, only 39% of French patient groups responding to the ‘Corporate Reputation of Pharma’ survey stated that pharma’s reputation was either “Excellent” or “Good” – against 59% of respondent patient groups worldwide that said the same.

The Covid-19 pandemic may have had a negative impact on French patient-group perceptions of pharma during 2020; the same, though, cannot be said for 2021. In 2021, as many as 61% of 2021’s respondent French patient groups stated that pharma was “Very effective” or “Effective” at supporting patients during the Covid-19 pandemic – a significant increase on the 31% saying the same in 2020, and on a par with the 2021 global figure of 66% reported by respondent patient groups worldwide. Yet the majority (61%) of respondent French patient groups in 2021 also went on to judge pharma as having either a “Fair” or “Poor” corporate reputation (or they “Did not know”).

The impact of the pandemic

As it did in many countries, Covid-19 exposed structural weaknesses in the French healthcare system (already under considerable strain from before Covid-19). 2021’s respondent French patient groups believed that not just government, but also the pharma industry, has a role to play in improving France’s underperforming healthcare infrastructure.

The patient groups emphasise four main areas of weakness that need addressing:

• French patients’ access to medicines;
• patient-doctor relationships in France;
• the levels of innovation in the pharma industry in France; and
• pharma’s relationships with French patient groups.

Patient access to medicines

The pandemic put on public view the fragility of France’s supply chain for essential medicines – given that the vast majority of the country’s medicines are manufactured, not at home, but in Asia. Unsurprisingly, the supply-chain’s delicacy led to unexpected drug shortages exacerbated by the pandemic – a fact referred to by a number of 2021’s respondent French patient groups. These patient groups, and the patients they represent, seek urgent solutions to the problem of security in France’s supply of essential medicines.

“Do what it takes to ensure the medications are available. Make sure that manufacturing is done as close to patients as possible – so, for French patients, in France.”

– Regional aphasia patient group, France

Patient-doctor relationships

Remote telemedicine consultations increased in number significantly in France during the pandemic (particularly as the costs to patients became refundable within the social-security system). Thus, ehealth in general drove change in the style of patient interactions with healthcare providers.

French patient groups supported online initiatives.

A 2020 survey on the way in which patient groups coped with the Covid-19 pandemic (results published in September 2020) found that 24% of the 84 respondent French patient groups had worked at setting up new online patient support, with a further 19% stating that they would like to do so.

French patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey reiterate the point by arguing that pharma could help these online initiatives of theirs – through the provision of training, resources, and networking opportunities with health professionals.

“Organise webinars with doctors on medical issues of interest to patients.” – Association Pierre ENJALRAN Fibrose Pulmonaire

Innovation

Vaccine development has, historically, been a strong component of French pharma’s capabilities. French pharma companies, however, were unable to meet the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic (although French companies did step up as key partners to the programmes on global vaccine roll out). 54% of the 109 French patient groups responding to the 2021 ‘Corporate Reputation’ survey thought pharma “Excellent” or “Good” at innovation.

However, the written feedback they offered in the survey suggested the scope for improvement from pharma. Respondent French patient groups were interested, not just in greater investment in innovation, but in pharma raising public awareness of industry’s R&D activities, and “holding public-information campaigns to encourage patients to support clinical research.” In addition, respondent French patient groups called for “greater reinforcement of [ed.: pharma] relationships with academic and biotech researchers.”

Provide more information on their latest knowledge and research, by encouraging more communication initiatives.” – National psoriasis patient group, France

Patient-group relations

A number of 2021’s respondent French patient groups reported to the survey that pharmaceutical companies cut relations with them during the period of Covid-19 – just at a time when these patient groups faced extra demand from French patients for services. In the previously-mentioned September 2020 survey on patient-group experiences of Covid-19, 70% of the 84 respondent French patient groups experienced a decrease in expected annual revenue in 2020. French patient groups now simply want pharma to resume relationships with them, and to understand the pressures faced by the country’s patient groups throughout the pandemic.

“At least reply to letters, and help us to inform our patients better.” – Fondation du Rein

COMPANY RANKINGS IN FRANCE IN 2021

• The top-three pharma companies in France in 2021, out of 24 companies, ranked for their overall corporate reputation (as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar with the company): Pfizer, 1st – UCB, 2nd – Boehringer Ingelheim, 3rd.
• The top-three pharma companies in France in 2021, out of 14 companies, ranked for their overall corporate reputation (as assessed by respondent French patient groups working with the company): Pfizer, 1st – Boehringer Ingelheim, 2nd – Sanofi, 3rd.
• The top-three ‘big-pharma’ companies in France in 2021, out of 12 ‘big-pharma’ companies, ranked for their overall corporate reputation (as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar with the company): Pfizer, 1st – Novartis, 2nd – Amgen, 3rd.

Key Topics Covered:

• Executive summary
• Relationships that French patient groups have with pharma, 2021
• Industry-wide findings in France, 2021
• Rankings of 24 pharma companies in France, 2021 v. 2020, as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar with the companies
• Rankings of 14 pharma companies in France, 2021 v. 2020, as assessed by respondent French patient groups working with the companies
• Rankings of 12 ‘big-pharma’ companies in France, 2021 v. 2020, as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar with the companies
• Rankings of 11 ‘big-pharma’ companies in France, 2021 v. 2020, as assessed by respondent French patient groups working with the companies
• Profiles of the 24 companies, 2021 (v. 2020)

Each company is profiled by the following measures:

• The number of respondent French patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021.
• The profile of the respondent French patient groups familiar with the company (the number of patients reached; specialties; and geographic remit), 2021.
• The types of relationships that the company had with its respondent French patient group partners, 2021.
• Company performance in France at the individual indicators of corporate reputation in – as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar, and working, with the company.
• Competitors’ relationships in 2021 with the company’s respondent French patient-group partners.
• Overall rankings in France for the company – as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021 v. 2020.
• Company rankings in France for each of the indicators – as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021 v. 2020.
• Snapshot view: where the company sits in the French corporate tiers for each of the indicators (in the higher, the middle, or the lower tier) – as assessed by respondent French patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021.
• Overall rankings of the company in France, 2018-2021 – expressed on the Patient Corporate Reputation Index (PCRI), a measure designed to standardise the ranking data (preventing results being skewed by the differing numbers of companies included in the French historic analyses over the various years). PCRI ranking is from 0 to 1, with 1 being the best (the highest rank) – as assessed by respondent French patient

Companies Mentioned

• AbbVie
• Amgen
• AstraZeneca
• Bayer
• Biogen
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Eli Lilly I Gilead Sciences
• GSK
• Janssen
• Merck KGaA
• MSD
• Mylan
• Novartis
• Novo Nordisk
• Pfizer
• Pierre Fabre
• Roche
• Sandoz
• Sanofi
• Servier
• Teva
• UCB

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1tjxt5

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