Big Pharma and state-like influence: how drugmakers shape health policy
A handful of multinational drugmakers now shape research funding, reimbursement and public health decisions across the world.
The global pharmaceutical industry wields state-like influence over health policy in many countries, shaping research priorities, financing and reimbursement decisions in ways that can favor their most profitable treatments.
Concentration of market power
Over the past 10 years the drug industry has been dramatically reshaped. A handful of multinational corporations now control production of a large share of medicines worldwide. Among the top five globally are the Swiss Novartis, the two US giants Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, followed by Roche — the other Swiss company — and the French giant Sanofi. Each employs about 100,000 people and operates on virtually every major market.
Critics say some laboratories have steered scientific research, funding and public reimbursement toward their most expensive products, sometimes to the detriment of patient health. In several cases laboratories have been held responsible after long periods in which serious addictive or adverse effects of their medicines were concealed.
The fight against COVID-19 is widely viewed as having intensified companies’ appetite for profit, accelerating partnerships, mergers and a redirection of resources toward high-return lines of research and distribution strategies.
Health experts and consumer advocates argue that the industry’s reach into policy-making — through lobbying, funding of academic studies, and influence over regulatory agendas — makes stronger oversight and clearer conflict-of-interest rules necessary to protect patients and public budgets.
A related investigative programme was scheduled for Friday, 18 September 2026 at 19:15, highlighting these dynamics and urging renewed debate on regulation of pharmaceutical power.
Photo: press material from the event
