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30 January 2012: GSK joins new global partnership to help defeat ten neglected tropical diseases by 2020

Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK said: "I am delighted to announce that GSK is part of this united effort to free future generations from the burden of neglected tropical diseases. Through this new partnership, we have both the means and the energy to strike a decisive blow against disease in the world’s poorest countries."

NTDs affect more than one billion people in developing countries, causing illness, disability and death, and increasing the burden on over-stretched health systems.

In support of ambitious goals set out this week by the WHO, to control or eliminate ten of the 17 diseases designated as NTDs by the end of the decade, GSK has expanded its significant albendazole donation programme which targets two neglected diseases and has strengthened its commitment to support R&D efforts.

• We will expand our albendazole donation programme for soil transmitted helminths (intestinal worms) by an additional five years through to 2020. This equates to an additional two billion tablets of albendazole.
• We reaffirm our commitment to supply all the albendazole needed to eliminate lymphatic filariasis worldwide.
• We will continue to play an open and active role in developing new and better treatments for NTDs through collaborative partnerships such as with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).

9 September 2011: GSK gives update on agreement with World Health Organization to support de-worming of school age children in endemic countries

The first African countries, Togo and Rwanda, will receive albendazole donations to scale-up school based de-worming programmes for children at risk of intestinal worms. Donation of albendazole will also be expanded beyond Africa to include endemic countries in Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The commitment to donate albendazole for the treatment of intestinal worms is in addition to GSK's ongoing commitment to provide the WHO with 600 million tablets of albendazole per year for use in the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF, commonly known as elephantiasis). This brings GSK's total donation commitment to the WHO to one billion tablets of albendazole each year.

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said: "WHO commends today's donation, which will help in providing wider coverage for the millions of children worldwide who silently suffer from the prolonged effects of intestinal worms."

13 June 2011: Andrew Witty talks about low cost vaccines on the day of the GAVI pledging conference

Andrew Witty speaks to BBC News about GSK’s recent offer to supply its rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix™, to the GAVI Alliance at a small fraction of developed world prices. Mr Witty also joins the panel of the BBC’s current affairs programme ‘Newsnight’ to discuss the role of philanthropy in the modern world.

The following files require Windows Media Player to view:

• Andrew Witty on BBC News, 13 June 2011
• Andrew Witty on BBC World News, 13 June 2011
• Andrew Witty on BBC Newsnight with Jeremy Paxman, Bill Gates and Richard Sezibera, 13 June 2011
• Our commitment to increasing access to vaccines

6 June 2011: GSK offers low-cost vaccines to GAVI Alliance

GSK today announced that it has made a new offer to supply its rotavirus vaccine, RotarixTM, to the GAVI Alliance at $2.50 per dose, a small fraction of developed world prices. This announcement is part of the company’s efforts to increase access to its medicines and vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. It is estimated that more than half a million children die of rotavirus gastroenteritis each year – the equivalent of a child a minute worldwide – and it is responsible for the hospitalization of millions more.

24 May 2011: GSK partners with NGOs to support healthcare workers in Least Developed Countries

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced further progress on its commitment to reinvest 20% of profits made in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) back into projects that strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in those countries.

GSK has formed a new partnership with three leading NGOs to deliver the reinvestments in LDCs:

• AMREF in East and Southern Africa
• CARE International UK in Asia Pacific
• Save the Children in West Africa

The shared objective of the investments will be to improve health outcomes by supporting frontline health workers who operate in these countries.

Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK said: “GSK is committed to playing its part in improving access to healthcare in all of the countries in which we operate. We are pleased to partner with three respected NGOs – AMREF, CARE and Save the Children – to deliver solutions that can make a difference on the ground in the world’s poorest countries.”

• 24 May 2011 press release on GSK’s partnership with NGOs

Images © CARE/Kate Holt

22 June 2010: Andrew Witty interview on CNBC

26 April 2010: Andrew Witty takes questions from BBC listeners

25 April 2010: World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day was established in March 2007. Its aim is to provide education and understanding of malaria as a global scourge that is preventable and a disease that is curable.

Our efforts against malaria are a key part of our commitment to finding new ways to treat the World Health Organization's three priority diseases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

• Find out more about our commitment to fighting malaria

20 January 2010: Andrew Witty delivers speech at the Council on Foreign Relations

20 January 2010: Andrew Witty, during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, announced an ‘open innovation’ strategy to help deliver new and better medicines for people living in the world’s poorest countries.

For more information, please read the press release, available in six languages:

Referring to his speech given at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on 20 January 2010, Mr Witty said,“We want to be a company that is truly a partner in addressing the healthcare challenges in the world's poorest countries, no matter how difficult they are. A restless company, never satisfied with what it has achieved, but always looking for ways of doing more."

Andrew Witty's Harvard speech: 13 February 2009