Pfizer offers 1.2 billion in poorer countries access to full medicine portfolio

Pfizer has announced it is expanding its ‘An Accord for a Healthier World’ initiative, to include its full portfolio of medicines and vaccines for which Pfizer has global rights.

The initial not-for-profit offering provided access to all its patented medicines and vaccines available in the US or European Union (EU) to 1.2 billion people in 45 lower-income countries (LICs).

The expansion now includes off-patent products, bringing the total offering from 23 to around 500 products.

An Accord for a Healthier World

“We launched ‘An Accord for a Healthier World’ [in May 2022] to help reduce the glaring health equity gap that exists in our world. Our hope is to empower country governments and co-create solutions with them and other multi-sector partners,” declared Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla.

Access to Pfizer’s expanded medicine portfolio

Pfizer stated its decision to increase supply of its products will help treat or prevent many of the greatest infectious and non-communicable disease threats faced today in LICs.

The medicines now on offer include chemotherapies and oral cancer treatments. These have the potential to treat nearly one million new cancer cases in Accord countries each year, shows data compiled by the Global Cancer Observatory.

Through ‘An Accord for a Healthier World’, the expanded portfolio also includes a wide range of antibiotics. The company confirmed this could assist in addressing burdens associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Based on data published in The Lancet, this could help to prevent around 1.5 million deaths that occur each year.

Rwanda in East Africa has already received delivery of nine Pfizer medicines and vaccines for the treatment of certain cancers, infectious and inflammatory diseases, through ‘An Accord for a Healthier World’. In November 2022, Pfizer deployed its first Global Health Team to the country to help identify opportunities for long-term supply chain optimisation.

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“We believe this expansion of our product offering, combined with continued efforts to help address the barriers that limit or prevent access, will help us to achieve and even expedite our vision of a world where all people have access to the medicines and vaccines they need,” Bourla concluded.

As Pfizer launches new medicines and vaccines, those products will also be included in the Accord portfolio on a not-for-profit basis.