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Eliminating Neglected Diseases In Poor Countries: A Conversation With Andrew Witty
1 Andrew Witty is chief executive officer of GlaxoSmithKline, located at the company's headquarters in Brentford, Middlesex, England. Susan Dentzer is editor-in-chief of Health Affairs in Bethesda, Maryland.
*Corresponding author.
GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, was formed in 2000 by the merger of GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham. It has long been among the most globally oriented of pharmaceutical companies; its former CEO, Jean-Pierre Garnier, frequently asserted that he had no intention of running a company whose sole business was selling pharmaceuticals only to the rich world. As a result, the company has participated in a variety of public-private efforts to advance health in poor countries, especially by tackling diseases ranging from polio to malaria. GSK has been part of a ground-breaking partnership, the Global Alliance to Eliminate LF, targeting lymphatic filariasis, the devastating infection that causes the grotesque swelling known as elephantiasis. GSK has donated more than one billion tablets of the drug albendazole to halt transmission of the disease-causing parasite and has helped facilitate elimination efforts in 48 countries. Another important GSK partnership with the Gates Foundation-funded PATH/Malaria Vaccine Initiative has led to the development of a new malaria vaccine, RTS,S, now entering Phase III trials in seven African nations. [Health Affairs 28, no. 3 (2009): w411-w416 (published online 19 March 2009; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.w411)] Key Words: Access To Care, AIDS/HIV, Business Of Health, Consumer Issues, Health Promotion/Disease Prevention, International Issues, Vaccines, Research And Technology, Pharmaceuticals
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