# Novartis again leads drugmakers on reaching patients in poorer countries in the 2026 Access to Medicine Index - Published: 2026-11-11 (updated 2026-11-11) - Author: [Healthcare News](https://healthcarenews.io/author/healthcarenews-io.md) - Topics: [News](https://healthcarenews.io/news.md) - About: [Novartis](https://www.novartis.com/), [2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://2026index.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/) - Based on: [Novartis ranks first place in 2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399390/0/en/novartis-ranks-first-place-in-2026-access-to-medicine-index.html), GlobeNewswire, 2026-11-10 - Based on: [2026 Access to Medicine Index ranking](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/insights-resources/index-ranking), Access to Medicine Foundation - Based on: [2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://2026index.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/), Access to Medicine Foundation - Based on: [Methodology for the 2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/resource/methodology-for-the-2026-access-to-medicine-index), Access to Medicine Foundation, 2025-10-09 - Based on: [Malaria fact sheet](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria), World Health Organization - Based on: [Novartis receives approval for first malaria medicine for newborn babies and young infants](https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-receives-approval-first-malaria-medicine-newborn-babies-and-young-infants), Novartis, 2025-07-08 - Source: https://healthcarenews.io/news/2026-access-to-medicine-index-novartis-ranks-first/ - Publication: Healthcare News - Publisher: Connectively (Terkel, Inc.) - Editorial policy: https://healthcarenews.io/editorial-policy/ - AI use: Connectively's automated system wrote this article with AI from a press release issued by Novartis on November 10, 2026, linked under Sources. Statements about the company and its products are the company's. The illustration was generated with AI. The article was assembled and published automatically, without an editor's review. Report errors to corrections@connectively.us. Novartis is again the drugmaker doing the most to get medicines to patients in low- and middle-income countries, according to the 2026 Access to Medicine Index. The Swiss company said on November 10 that it scored 3.86 out of five, its second first place in a row. ## Key points - Novartis ranks first of 20 drugmakers in the 2026 Access to Medicine Index with 3.86 out of five, ahead of GSK at 3.73 and AstraZeneca at 3.28 ([Access to Medicine Foundation ranking](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/insights-resources/index-ranking)). - It also ranked first in the 2024 Index, so Novartis has now led two editions in a row. - Novartis says it is the only company since the Index began in 2008 to come first in all three areas it scores, with a research and development score close to twice the sector average. - The company says it reached 304 million patients in 2025, 30 million of them through access programmes. - Its malaria medicines include Coartem Baby, which Novartis says is approved in 16 countries, and KLU156, which it says has priority review at Swissmedic and the U.S. FDA. ## What does the 2026 Access to Medicine Index measure? It grades how 20 of the biggest research-based drugmakers make medicines, vaccines and diagnostics available in 113 low- and middle-income countries, where nearly 80% of the world's population lives ([2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://2026index.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/)). The Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent non-profit, publishes it every two years; this tenth edition uses 29 indicators grouped under Governance of Access, Research & Development and Product Delivery ([methodology](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/resource/methodology-for-the-2026-access-to-medicine-index)). Across the industry, planning for access now starts earlier. In 2018, fewer than a fifth of late-stage drug projects had an access plan; in 2026 the share is 69%, the Foundation reports ([2026 Index key findings](https://2026index.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/)). ## How did Novartis score in the 2026 Access to Medicine Index? Novartis came first overall with 3.86, followed by GSK (3.73), AstraZeneca (3.28), Sanofi (3.17) and Bayer (3.15), on the Foundation's published table ([ranking](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/insights-resources/index-ranking)). Novartis says it led every one of the three Technical Areas, a first for any company in the Index's history, and that its research and development score was almost double the average for the group. ## What has Novartis done on access since 2024? Novartis lists what it has done since the last Index. It says it widened community health programmes aimed at cancer and heart disease: Inclusive Health Accelerators in the U.S., Community Health Initiatives in poorer countries and CARDIO4Cities for heart health in cities. It also renewed its agreement to give the World Health Organization leprosy treatments at no cost, widened its partnership with the Max Foundation to 6 treatments in 71 countries, and added more Emerging Market Brands priced for those markets. Malaria takes up much of the list. There were an estimated 282 million malaria cases in 2024, 95% of them in the WHO African Region ([WHO malaria fact sheet](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria)). Novartis announced Swissmedic's approval of Coartem Baby (artemether-lumefantrine) on July 8, 2025, as the first malaria medicine for newborns and young infants, for babies under 4.5 kilograms who had no approved treatment before ([Novartis, 2025](https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-receives-approval-first-malaria-medicine-newborn-babies-and-young-infants)). Novartis now says it is approved in 16 countries. The company says KLU156 (ganaplacide/lumefantrine), which it calls the first next-generation antimalarial, has been submitted to Swissmedic and the U.S. FDA with priority review, and that it has put more than USD 500 million into global health research since 2021. ## What does the ranking mean for global health programmes? Our analysis: for health ministries, procurement agencies and NGOs, the Index is a public, side-by-side comparison of how the big drugmakers plan and deliver access in poorer countries. Novartis's first place rests, by its own account, on products already in use there, such as Coartem Baby, and on a pipeline candidate, KLU156, that is now with regulators, so those are the products to follow for malaria-endemic countries. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who publishes the Access to Medicine Index? The Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation. The Index comes out every two years and was first published in 2008. ### Which company ranked second in 2026? GSK, with 3.73 out of five, according to the Foundation's ranking ([Access to Medicine Foundation](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/insights-resources/index-ranking)). ### What are the three Technical Areas the Index scores? Governance of Access looks at who inside a company is held responsible for access. Research & Development looks at work on diseases common in low- and middle-income countries and at plans to make new products available there. Product Delivery looks at how products actually reach patients and what stands in the way. ### How many diseases does the 2026 Index cover? The 2026 Index covers 84 diseases, conditions and pathogens, across medicines, vaccines and diagnostics. ## Sources - [Novartis ranks first place in 2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399390/0/en/novartis-ranks-first-place-in-2026-access-to-medicine-index.html): press release from Novartis via GlobeNewswire, 10 November 2026. - [2026 Access to Medicine Index ranking](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/insights-resources/index-ranking): the Access to Medicine Foundation's published scores for all 20 companies. - [2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://2026index.accesstomedicinefoundation.org/): the Foundation's key findings. - [Methodology for the 2026 Access to Medicine Index](https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/resource/methodology-for-the-2026-access-to-medicine-index): Access to Medicine Foundation, 9 October 2025. - [Malaria fact sheet](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria): World Health Organization. - [Novartis receives approval for first malaria medicine for newborn babies and young infants](https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-receives-approval-first-malaria-medicine-newborn-babies-and-young-infants): Novartis press release, 8 July 2025.