January 17, 2023 – Pfizer announced that it has significantly expanded its commitment to An Accord for a Healthier World to offer the full portfolio of medicines and vaccines for which it has global rights on a not-for-profit basis to enable greater health for 1.2 billion people living in 45 lower-income countries.
Launched in May 2022, the Accord, a transformative initiative focused on greatly reducing health inequities that exist between many lower-income countries and the rest of the world, initially included a commitment from Pfizer for access to all its patented medicines and vaccines available in the U.S. or European Union on a not-for-profit basis to 45 lower-income countries. However, to better align with disease burden and unmet patient needs in these countries, Pfizer will now expand its offering under the Accord to include off-patent products, bringing the total offering from 23 products to around 500 products.
The Accord portfolio offering now includes both patented and off-patent medicines and vaccines that treat or prevent many of the greatest infectious and non-communicable disease threats faced today in lower-income countries. This includes chemotherapies and oral cancer treatments that have the potential to treat nearly one million new cancer cases in Accord countries each year. It also includes a wide range of antibiotics, that can help to address the rising morbidity, mortality and costs associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and help to prevent around 1.5 million deaths that occur each year in these countries as a result of bacterial infections in hospitals and community health clinics. As Pfizer launches new medicines and vaccines, those products will also be included in the Accord portfolio on a not-for-profit basis.
Since its launch in May 2022, An Accord for a Healthier World continues to make progress towards its goals to help address global health equity through both medicine and vaccine supply and health system strengthening. Rwanda has already received delivery of nine Pfizer medicines and vaccines for the treatment of certain cancers, infectious and inflammatory diseases. In collaboration with the Rwandan Ministry of Health, Pfizer has provided professional healthcare education and training to support the delivery, and in November, Pfizer deployed its first Global Health Team to the country to help identify opportunities for long-term supply chain optimization. Collaboration is also underway with the Ministries of Health in Malawi, Ghana and Senegal as well as a number of other Accord countries to better understand the critical healthcare needs and opportunities for health system strengthening.